A young man who admitted to stealing cheques and using them to make a quick buck to bankroll his drug habit was placed on probation by a court today.
Dillon Kenneth Junior Bartolo,24, was found guilty of falsifying documents, of aggravated theft, misappropriation and fraud after stealing the cheques from a flat in Tigne and cashing them.
The court, presided by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, observed that the accused was going through a rough patch. However, all the accused's trouble stemmed from his drug addiction, the court remarked.
"This court has always done all it could to help those who, like the accused, appeared before it with this serious problem and always gave every opportunity to allow victims of drugs to be healed from this vice," the magistrate declared.
In view of the fact that the accused appeared to genuinely want to overcome his drug problem, the court observed that a prison sentence would run counter to this process of rehabilitation.
In order to allow the young offender a chance to reform, the court placed him under a three-year Probation and Treatment Order, with a recommendation to the probation officer in charge to present a progress report in court on a 6 monthly basis.
The court also ordered the accused to repay the €150 he had misappropriated within 6 months.