Convicted burglar given chance to prove he has changed

A man jailed for burglary has had his punishment changed to probation after an appeal court heard how he has changed his ways since he committed the crime nine years ago.

Last July the Magistrates' Court found Marco Giordmaina guilty of breaking into a man's house and stealing about Lm500 worth of items on August 9, 1998.

Mr Giordmaina was also found guilty of committing the crime during the operative time of a one-year suspended jail term. The Magistrates' Court jailed Mr Giordmaina for a year and ordered that the suspended jail term be put into effect bringing the total jail term to two years.

Mr Giordmaina appealed the judgment on several grounds. One of his arguments centred around the amount of time that had elapsed since his arraignment.

On evaluating the case Mr Justice David Scicluna, in the Court of Criminal Appeal, noted that Mr Giordmaina had been arraigned in August 1998 and the judgment was handed down last June.

A pre-sentencing report showed that, since the time of the incident, Mr Giordmaina had overcome his drug habit and had settled down and become responsible. Imprisonment would be detrimental to his rehabilitation.

The judge also heard that Mr Giordmaina had repaid the victim the Lm500 he had stolen.

"This court believes that the appellant is at a stage in his life where it would be appropriate to give him the last opportunity so that one could safely say he truly left his criminal life behind him..." the judge ruled.

In these circumstances the judge placed Mr Giordmaina on probation for three years and ordered that the one-year suspended jail term be extended for a further four years.

Lawyers José Herrera and Veronique Dalli represented Mr Giordmaina.