Boy tied to chair and burnt with hot lighter

Three teenage boys have been conditionally discharged for two years for tying a boy to a chair and burning parts of his body with a hot lighter.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti noted that the three teenagers had taken advantage of the boy, who did not have the same mental agility as they did, and played a joke in bad taste.

He found the three guilty of seriously injuring the boy when they bound and burnt him at the Malta Labour Party club in Rabat on January 27, 2003.

The magistrate heard how the boys, aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the commission of the crime, had pressed a hot lighter against parts of the victim's body leaving permanent marks. The three boys had also thrown a hot coin down the bound boy's pants.

On handing down judgement, Magistrate Grixti noted that the boys had a clean criminal record and were minors at the time of the commission of the crime.

Police Inspector Mario Bonello prosecuted.