The imprisonment of two troubled youngsters aged 15 and 16 who were denied bail over an alleged theft of €400, has angered NGOs and professionals who claim the children’s rights are being trampled on.

An appeal has been launched by Appoġġ, since the children, a boy and a girl respectively, are under care orders because they come from a background of neglect and abuse. A hearing is set for tomorrow.

The youngsters were denied bail last Monday after having been charged with theft of €400 from their 82-year-old uncle and have remained in prison since.

The girl was taken into care following reports about her family background while the boy had asked for help himself, after escaping a broken home. The care orders mean the youngsters become the legal responsibility of the State. However, they had been transferred to the care of YMCA, an NGO that provides residential services for children in these situations.

YMCA chairman Jean Paul Mifsud has been battling to get them released for the past week, insisting it was unacceptable for children their age to be sent to prison, especially over such a case, and considering the background to it.

“We were told by the legal aid lawyer there should have been a hearing on Wednesday but nothing came of that... they have spent a week in prison in the meantime. We have worked all through the week, we kept close contact with the kids and saw to their needs, but that is not enough. The kids need specialised help, on time and not imprisonment,” he said.

Both YMCA and Appoġġ were informed of the case a few minutes before the hearing. As a result, Appoġġ could not have its lawyers and social worker get to the hearing in time.

“I feel their rights are being breached, and I say this responsibly,” Mr Mifsud said, insisting the system was failing the children most in need.

“Had these been my children or your children we would have been involved, we would have got them the best lawyers and they would have been granted bail... why should it be any different with these children whose only fault is that they have been dealt a raw deal in life?”

Maltese Association of Social Workers chair Anthea Agius echoed this feeling, arguing that the rights of these youngsters were being trampled upon. “Prison is no place for young people. Research shows it will only make things worse not better,” she said.

Foundation for Social Welfare Services CEO Sina Bugeja said Appoġġ was following the case closely and had filed an appeal.

A legal aid lawyer made the case on their release during last Monday’s hearing but the prosecuting inspector Jason Agius insisted the two could tamper with evidence and Magistrate Anthony Vella upheld this argument, denying bail.

But Mr Mifsud insisted such a case called for a specialised lawyer who knew the background of the two youngsters, and not a legal aid representative. Ms Bugeja went a step further, questioning the fact that the children were charged under arrest, rather than under citation, which would have meant the question of bail would not even have cropped up.

“We are completely against the fact that these minors are being kept in preventive custody not only in view of the charge concerned but more so when one of the minors is a first time offender. It is also hard to understand why these minors were arraigned under arrest since it is our opinion the crime concerned did not warrant such a measure to be taken,” she said.

“We believe this experience will be of detriment to the psychological well-being of these minors.”

George Busuttil, from Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl, which has been campaigning against the incarceration of minors pointed out there were no facilities for minors especially girls.

There is a wing for young men at the Corradino Correctional Facility called Yours, but this is exclusive for boys and there is no therapeutic dimension to it.

In fact, there is not even segregation of inmates according to the nature of their crime. “There is no segregation anywhere in the prison,” Mr Busuttil said.

So in the case of the 16-year-old girl she would be placed with all other women convicts, irrespective of their crime.

“There isn’t a proper facility to host people of such a young age in a secured environment. But the solution is not to send them to prison, it’s just not acceptable,” he insisted.