Prison for 16-year-old with long list of offences

A 16-year-old was yesterday jailed for six months after he was found guilty of being in illegal possession of two shotguns and driving without a licence last year when just 15.

As the boy stood in the dock, Magistrate Anthony Vella told his weeping mother that she could stand next to him before he read out the judgement, explaining that he had done all he could and his hands were tied.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio said he hoped the Corradino Correctional Facility would live up to its name now that it was faced with such a young inmate.

The boy, who had already been given an 18-month jail term suspended for two years for theft-related charges, was caught last October on the Marsascala bypass when he was spotted by police driving while using a mobile phone.

They found stolen shotguns in the car and he was later charged with stealing one of them from a field in Marsaxlokk, damaging property, illegally possessing the guns, driving without a licence or insurance, driving without a seatbelt and while using a mobile phone, as well as breaching the conditions of a previous release.

Magistrate Vella said he was extending the period of the jail term suspension and imprisoning him for six months.