Girl, 16, moved from prison to shelter

A 16-year-old sentenced to three months in jail for theft was yesterday moved to a shelter, almost a week after the court recommended that she does not serve time in prison.

The girl will be under constant police supervision during her three months at the shelter, which is for victims of domestic violence.

A Justice Ministry spokesman explained that the girl will be deemed to be on prison leave for a young offender’s rehabilitation. This is similar to the leave granted to incarcerated drug addicts who attend residential rehabilitation programmes.

However, if she escapes from the shelter, the girl would be considered a fugitive and would have to face the consequences. Asked why it had taken so long to move the girl from the Corradino Correctional Facility following the court’s recommendation, the spokesman said this was due to “technical issues”, mainly connected to sorting out a prison guard to supervise the teenager.

Jean Paul Mifsud, who runs the YMCA homeless shelter, where the girl once lived, said that on the day of the judgment he contacted the authorities and offered to help out. Commenting on the social networking site Facebook, he said he offered a solution but it took almost a week for the authorities to decide to send her to a shelter.

Last year the girl was jailed for 40 days for breaching bail conditions after being charged with stealing the pension from an elderly man she called her uncle.

The Magistrate’s Court found her guilty of that charge and jailed her for three months. The girl appealed and, last Wednesday, the appeal court confirmed the punishment but recommended that she be sent to a guarded shelter.

Mr Justice David Scicluna, in the appeal court, pointed out that Malta had no homes specifically geared to cater for teenagers like her.

The girl, whose name cannot be published since she is a minor, has been institutionalised since the age of three and was caught in a vicious circle because she had nowhere to live. Malta’s jail has a section for young male offenders. However, there is no equivalent for girls. After being charged with the pension theft she had been remanded to the woman’s prison, living with people awaiting trial for murder, among others. In his judgment, Ms Justice Scicluna said her behavioural pattern was preoccupying and he had hoped she would reform herself with the help of professionals but the only way forward was for her to pull her socks up.

The case of the girl’s incarceration had spurred the Children’s Commissioner to commission a report into the juvenile justice system. The report, released in February, made various recommendations including the need to overhaul the juvenile justice system with reforms in the police, the courts, prison and even NGOs dealing with young people.

The report said incarceration should be the very last resort and the government should ensure there were a range of options to imprisonment, such as therapeutic facilities and secure homes. The Commissioner said she would set up a task force to draw up a plan to implement the recommendations.