A 16-year-old boy this afternoon pleaded guilty to drowning a light-coloured Labrador at the Marsaxlokk Waterpolo Pitch at around 6.30 p.m. yesterday.

Both the boy and the dog were in the water and the dog's owner was in the area. Several witnesses saw the boy drown the dog.

Legal aid lawyer Renzo Porsella Flores told Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera that the boy was scratched by the dog, which was apparently aggressive towards him and he acted in self-defence.

However, Police Inspector Arthur Mercieca said that the incident happened in an area which was quite deep and the dog could not offer resistance.

The boy, he said, had also told him that when he was in certain situations he could not control his anger.

The boy's parents told Insp. Mercieca that their son was currently under the care of psychiatrist Anthony Dimech who had given him pills to manage his anger problems. The boy, however, refused to take the medication because he felt he did not need it.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera nominated probation officer Myriam Sebasta to draw up a pre-sentencing report about the boy's problems by the end of next month.

The boy, who has a clean police record, was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €1,000. He was warned of the severe consequences should he breach any of the bail conditions.

The dog's owner told timesofmalta.com that the incident happened some 300 metres away from the Waterpolo Pitch in an area known as tal-Ponta that is right behind it-Torri ta' San Lucjan.