Two men in their twenties were jailed for eight years and three months after they were found guilty of robbing a store with a toy gun.

Steve Spiteri, 24, from Msida, and Clyde Cremona, 20, from Mosta were found guilty by magistrate Laurence Quintano of taking part in a robbery that took place at AGP Discout Store in San Gwann.

The two men held the shop owner against his will and one of them hit him with a drawer and tried to run away with a number of cigarettes packets and a cash register full of cash. However, the two thieves lost their loot on their way to their stolen getaway car. They were later arrested by the police. During the robbery one of the thieves encouraged the other one to fire the weapon, which did produce a “crack”.

Magistrate Quintano said that it did not matter whether a person committed a crime with a toy gun or a real weapon as the uninvited person still introduces himself illegally in a property. “It was not up to society to distinguish between different types of weapons or between real or fake ones.” Spiteri was jailed for two-and-a-half years for the robbery and another two years after breaching a suspended sentence. Cremona was jailed for three years and nine months after he was found guilty of breaching the conditions of a judgment over drug-related charges.

Police Superintendent Silvio Valletta and Inspector Joseph Mercieca prosecuted.