A 26-year-old graffiti artist was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to vandalising property.

Razvan Claudiu Mican, a Romanian national, appeared before Magistrate Ian Farrugia after vandalising a shop window in Qawra.

The prosecution, led by police Inspector Nicholas Vella said that Mican had been reported to the police yesterday evening. Upon being apprehended by the police, the man was found to be in possession of two joints of cannabis.

The magistrate warned the man that this behaviour was not acceptable in Malta. "If you feel the need to express yourself artistically, you should know there are legal and acceptable means to do so," the magistrate concluded.