An 18-year-old man was jailed for 10 months for taking his grandfather's old car and attaching stolen number plates to it.
In a separate case, a 22-year-old woman was jailed for six months for stealing a motorcycle and mounting on it cardboard plates.
In the first case, Magistrate Edwina Grima found the young man, who was a minor at the time, guilty of handling stolen registration plates, making use of his grandfather's car with false plates and driving it without a licence or insurance cover.
He was also charged with the possession of a knife, breaching a probation order and relapsing in June 2006.
The magistrate heard how the man took his grandfathers' old Daewoo car from a garage where it had been stored for years. As he wanted to use the car to go to a party, he needed a set of registration plates and asked his friend for them. His friend stole the plates and gave them to him. When the police found the car, they found a knife inside it.
The magistrate noted that the man's criminal record showed that the court had given him various chances to change his ways. However, it seemed like he was now trying to turn his life around and attended a course at the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology. For this reason, she ruled that the maximum jail term was not appropriate. She jailed him for 10 months and recommended the prison authorities to help him complete his course.
Alberta Amato was jailed for six months after she admitted to stealing a motorcycle, driving dangerously and without a licence or insurance cover in June last year.
The magistrate heard how Ms Amato had stolen the motorcycle and attached cardboard registration plates to it. These caught the attention of the police.
Magistrate Grima noted that Ms Amato had a drug addiction problem and was attending a rehabilitation programme. Jailing her was the only way to ensure she completed the programme. For this reason the magistrate imprisoned her for six months and recommended that the prison authorities help her overcome her drug problem.
Police Inspectors Mario Tonna and Joseph Mercieca prosecuted.