A Senegalese man who fled detention two years ago was served with a six-month prison sentence after he turned himself in to the police yesterday.
Kausu Kanin, 26, admitted before Magistrate Gabriella Vella to escaping from the Safi detention centre between January 28 and 29, 2014.
Prosecuting officer Victor Aquilina appealed for an effective sentence while legal aid lawyer Benjamin Valenzia asked the court to consider the fact that he gave himself in and also the humanitarian circumstances of the case.
The lawyer argued that a jail term would send out the wrong message and discourage others from turning themselves in.
While considering the early guilty plea, Magistrate Vella noted that the accused had entered the country illegally and only turned himself in after two years. The court therefore condemned him to a six-month effective prison sentence.