Jailed for despicable act on defenceless woman

A man who robbed a blind sexagenarian in a "despicable and horrible" act on "a defenceless woman" was yesterday jailed for three years.

The conviction triggered off a 22-month suspended sentence bringing the total jail term for Horace Cassar, 40, to four years and 10 months.

Cassar pleaded guilty to stealing Emanuel Vassallo's Triumph Herald from Marsa, robbing Matilde Tabone of her handbag in Paola and trying to take other people's handbags on June 18, 1999.

He pleaded not guilty to relapsing and committing the crimes during the operative term of a 22-month jail term suspended for four years but was found guilty nonetheless.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro heard Louise Vella explain how she had been accompanying Tabone home from Mass when a blue car sped towards them skimming Tabone's thigh.

Someone stuck out an arm and grabbed Tabone's handbag and the car sped off. Tabone fainted, Vella said.

Probation officer Maryanne Zammit explained that Cassar had lived a life full of irresponsibility and had allowed problems, such as drugs, take over and lead him to criminality. She also said he had made a big effort to overcome his problem.

But the magistrate noted that this was not the first time that Cassar had managed to convince the courts that he had reformed himself. He had been given many opportunities to change his ways but he always returned to the criminal way of life.

She noted that his nine-page criminal record was alarming and ruled that he deserved to be given a jail term. When a court handed down judgment, she added, it could not limit itself to the interests of the defendant but had to consider the interests of society and its victims.

Police Inspector David Saliba prosecuted.