A homeless 17-year-old addicted to sniffing lighter fluid was yesterday sent to prison and told to contemplate what life would be like if he did not reform.

The young man, whose parents rarely feature in his life, was staying at the YMCA shelter when he allegedly snatched a handbag from two tourists in Valletta, the court heard.

The teenager, who is not being named because he is still a minor, was arrested after his victims gave an accurate description of what he was wearing following the incident on Tuesday, Police Inspector Godwin Scerri said.

The youth cooperated with the police and the money and the bag were recovered, the inspector said, adding that he had turned to crime because his €2 daily pocket money from the government agency Appoġġ had been stopped due to bad behaviour.

Social worker Alexia Sammut testified that she was assigned to look after the accused in February. He was homeless and living at the YMCA shelter in Valletta. He had previously spent time in a shelter and even spent a week living at the government agency. He was addicted to lighter fluid and had been found unconscious as a result, she said.

She added that visits to his parents were practically non-existent and although living for a short period with his grandmother and father separately, family problems send him back on the streets again.

Following a request for bail, Magistrate Giovanni Grixti remanded him in custody and told him to contemplate on his future and decide whether he wanted to live in prison or the YMCA.