Repay debt or it's jail, court tells man

A court yesterday told a man to choose between going to jail for fraud or repaying a debt of €12,000 from recession-hit England where he is training to become a bus driver.

Noel Lanzon, 34, appeared in court to plead guilty to defrauding two Maltese men of the amount over the course of this month and in previous months, telling them he wanted the money to invest in a shop. However, instead of investing it, he gambled the cash away.

He has been living in the UK for the past year and a half and has just started a training course to become a bus driver. The fraud was committed during visits to Malta and Mr Lanzon was arrested on his last trip here earlier this month.

Defence lawyer David Gatt said his client had been doing good work in the UK and asked the magistrate to take into consideration the fact that Mr Lanzon did not want to leave it all behind. His client, he added, would pay the money back from England.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said he would give Mr Lanzon six months to repay his debt in full.

Mr Lanzon asked for a longer period since he was studying.

The court would have none of it, however, and told him to choose: either to spend time in jail or face the hardship of paying the amount back from "recession-hit" London.

Mr Lanzon agreed to pay the money and the court also handed down a two-year jail term suspended for four years.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla prosecuted.