Probation order

Two teenagers were yesterday put on probation for two years after they admitted to stealing a handbag in Birkirkara.

Eugenio Lanzon, 19 from Birkirkara, and a 16-year-old boy from Lija, who cannot be named because he is a minor, pleaded guilty to stealing the handbag from Monique Mizzi on February 10 at 10 p.m.

They also admitted to stealing a mobile phone worth over €233 (Lm100). The minor was also charged with stealing cash from Angels Stationery in Balzan. Before handing down judgement, Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard lawyer Joseph Giglio, on behalf of the minor's parents, say that in order to show the boy that such behaviour would get him nowhere they did not ask for bail when he was arraigned on February 13. They wanted him to see with his own eyes what jail was like and to reinforce the idea that a life of crime would lead him nowhere.

Police Inspectors Michael Mallia and Sandra Zammit prosecuted.