A judge yesterday sentenced a man, who jurors found guilty of an attempted theft, to nine years in jail after he noted that he had persisted in his criminality and had no less than 13 convictions on his record.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia said that despite the various chances he was given to get his life back on the right track, Jonathan Felice continued to live the life of a criminal. He also noted that he had committed more crimes while he was waiting for his trial by jury over the 2006 attempted theft.

“The accused continued with the crimes and has shown utter disrespect towards society and the courts so he deserves no clemency,” Mr Justice Mallia said, as he jailed him for nine years and ordered him to pay almost €1,000 in court expenses.

Mr Felice was found guilty of breaking into the home of Dolores Debono, 81, in the afternoon of June 27, 2006, when he was 17, along with two other men.

The accused continued with the crimes and has shown utter disrespect towards society and the courts so he deserves no clemency

The jurors, after just three hours of deliberation, found him not guilty of grievously injuring the woman even though she suffered fractures to her toes. However, they found him guilty, by six votes to three, of the attempted theft and of causing slight injuries.

The accused insisted throughout the trial by jury that he was not involved in the case but jurors heard how the woman recognised him on four occasions – twice during two separate identification parades, once through photographs shown to her by the police and another time in court when she testified in his compilation of evidence.

In submissions on punishment, the prosecution said this was not a one-off crime. His last sentence was handed down last month over another theft in Qormi. He was also jailed for breaching bail conditions of two separate cases.

He also had convictions over drugs and yet more thefts, including a conviction for the theft of jewellery in 2009.

On its part, the defence said it was “perplexed” with the verdict but accepted it just the same although it did not agree with the maximum penalty that the prosecution was requesting.

Lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Nadia Attard prosecuted on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office while lawyer Leslie Cuschieri defended the accused.