A drug user squandered the chance to sort out his life and has a probation order converted to an effective jail term.

Neville Abela, 32, had been placed under a 3-year Probation Order after being declared guilty of drug possession charges as well as aggravated theft after stealing from his parents’ home.

Although a Magistrates’ Court had spared him an effective jail term, placing him instead under the guidance of a probation officer who would lead him on the path to recovery, the accused had never turned up for his appointments, ignoring three letters sent to him in this respect.

He even left his parents’ home, changing his fixed address without informing the relative authorities of his whereabouts, which finally prompted the probation officer to denounce him to the court.

When appearing before the Criminal Court, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, the man explained that he had “not been feeling well”, thereby seeking to justify his absence at the first appointment with the probation officer.

Faced with this scenario, Mr Justice Grixti observed that although the court was not disheartened that the accused would “one day be rehabilitated, yet even through his behaviour in the courtroom, the court was of the view that he was not yet prepared to take seriously the opportunity granted to him by way of the Probation Order.”

Pointing out that the man was posing a threat even to his own family, while occupying a place which could benefit others who truly wished to undergo rehabilitation, the court thereby revoked the probation order and condemned the accused to a 3-year effective jail term.