'Arrogant' youth jailed

An "arrogant" Paola teenager was yesterday jailed for a year for car theft after he breached the conditions of a probation order twice.

The boy, then 15, was originally put on probation for three years for stealing John Brincat's Mini Minor and damaging it on January 16, 2000.

But Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard, after passing judgment, that the boy had not kept regular appointments for urine testing and had tested positive for drugs.

He had also started a rehabilitation programme but had shown no signs of improvement after five months and was being a bad influence on other residents.

She fined him Lm50 and extended the probation order for another two years. After that, he again tested positive for morphine and cannabis, failed to keep regular appointments with his probation officer and failed to contact the Employment and Training Corporation for a job.

The magistrate ruled that she had given the boy, now 19, several chances to change his ways yet he remained stubborn and did whatever he felt like.

She ruled that she could not tolerate such a situation and would not give the message that people who broke the law went unpunished.

The magistrate added that she had no sympathy for the boy who repeatedly challenged justice and condemned his behaviour as arrogant.