A 15-year-old boy appeared relaxed as he got a good telling off from a magistrate who told him he should be in school rather than facing theft charges.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale yesterday warned the teenager, whose name cannot be published, to change his criminal ways before he was sent to jail “for a long time”. The court heard that the boy, from St Paul’s Bay, was frequenting bad company and had not chosen his friends wisely.

He pleaded guilty to a string of thefts between March and November and was sentenced to two years in jail suspended for four years and placed under probation for four years.

“Don’t keep nodding your head at me. You must show me that you’re going to change your ways.

“If you make another mistake in these four years, you will appear before me again and then I won’t be giving you any more chances,” Dr Depasquale told the teenager.

“And that won’t be good news for you,” he quickly added.

Don’t keep nodding your head at me

The boy was also charged with seriously injuring a British woman in St Paul’s Bay at about 9pm on March 17, when he punched her, to steal her handbag, as she was walking in the street.

On September 14, he broke into two street-level rooms at the Sunflower Hotel, in St Paul’s Bay, gaining access through the balcony, from which he stole several items.

On November 12, he robbed an Austrian national and, five days later, broke into his hometown’s Boċċi Club, from which he stole wine, beer and other items. Later in the month, he tried breaking into a residence.

Police Inspector James Grech prosecuted. Lawyer Joseph Mizzi appeared for the accused.