Two Libyan men who share a room at the Ħal Far open centre were found guilty of stealing €100 from a co-national at the Valletta bus terminus in December 2014.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja heard that the pair attacked another Libyan national while at City Gate at 4pm on December 15. Threatening him with a knife, they held him against his will and made off with €100 in cash.

In view of several brushes with the law, Ali Muftah, 23, was sentenced to a year in prison and had a one-year suspended sentence converted into an effective jail term, bringing the total to two years.

His accomplice, Morat Abdikadir Mohammed Naswan, 24, was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for four, in view of the fact he was a first-time offender and despite having a more active role in the incident.

Mr Muftah is due to appear in court again on Tuesday to be sentenced in connection with the theft of a bagful of items from Hugo’s Terrace in Paceville. When he appeared in court earlier this week, he refused the assistance of a lawyer and insisted on pleading guilty to the charges brought against him.