Mellieħa vandal pleads guilty

A young vandal who caused thousands of euros worth of damage in Mellieħa last August has faced justice and was conditionally discharged for one year.

Jonathan Scott Fulton, 21, who was born in Scotland but resides in Mellieħa, admitted he vandalised a bus shelter and a vehicle, causing damages of up to €3,400.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke took into consideration his early guilty plea, the fact he cooperated with the police, that he paid the damages and his clean record.

Last August, The Sunday Times quoted Mellieħa mayor Robert Cutajar saying the vandalism, focused around the Main Street area and neighbouring public gardens, had been systematically going on for the past four to five months.

Litter bins had been burnt, garden signs and road signs taken apart and a bus stop extensively damaged. Special lighting fixtures, protected against vandalism, were broken nonetheless with a pointed instrument.

The vandals, suspected to be five, had eluded the authorities for several weeks until they were identified by a Mellieħa resident who came forward with a description of a "gang of thugs" roaming the locality, the mayor had said. The vandals were seen wearing head scarves to conceal their identity.

They were taken in for questioning at the time but no charges were filed because the prime witness was refusing to testify in court. Police Inspector Therese Sciberras, who prosecuted, is still investigating the matter.

The Mellieħa council said yesterday it was encouraged that the police investigations were reaping results and appealed to residents to keep an eye open for similar incidents.