A 19-year-old drug addict caught red-handed trying to break into a shop in Hamrun early on Thursday was this afternoon jailed for nine months while his 18-year-old accomplice received a suspended jail term.

In separate arraignments, police inspectors Eliott Magro and Roderick Zammit charged neighbours Keithien Borg, 19 and Janovich Gatt, 18, both from Qormi, under arrest.

They were charging with the attempted theft from Energy Projects in Sta Venera and with damaging property until they were caught and the theft foiled.

Mr Gatt alone was also charged with an attempted theft from Maxims pastizzeria in Hamrun, and with damaging the shop's shutter. Mr Borg alone was also charged with committing a crime during the operative time of a conditional discharge and a probation order.

After hearing him plead guilty to the charges brought against him, Magistrate Doreen Clarke sentenced Mr Borg to nine months imprisonment. Although he had breached a probation order, the magistrate opted not to convert it into a prison term.

She, however, sternly warned the teenager that he had a collection of convictions on his criminal record and that if he continued in this path, he would be spending more than just nine months in jail.

"You now have three judgments hanging over your head. Use your nine months in prison well because if you leave jail and commit another offence, you will be going back there for a much longer time," she told him.

The magistrate also recommended that Mr Borg starts a drug rehabilitation programme while serving time in jail.

Mr Gatt was also on probation but was not a relapser so Magistrate Clarke suspended his none-month jail term for 18 months. He was also warned to change his ways.

"All you and your friend who was here before you have done so far is ruined each other. See what you're going to do about it. Learn from your friend's experience. If you commit another crime you too will go to jail," the magistrate told him.

Lawyer Leontine Calleja appeared for the men.