A magistrate jailed a man for three years yesterday after pointing out that she did not believe he had a drug problem but had only invented it to benefit from a reduced punishment.

Anton Vassallo, 27, from Zabbar, was found guilty of stealing a Toyota Starlet GT, driving the car with false number plates, the theft of tools from Kenneth Hardware Store in Zabbar, receiving stolen goods and relapsing.

He was cleared of other charges, including that of causing damage to the store he robbed, the theft of a car stereo, theft of cash from a factory in Marsa and damaging the factory and the theft of a television set from a car.

Handing down her judgement, magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that although the accused had attended a drug rehabilitation programme, the court did not believe that he had a drug problem since he has never been accused of drug-related crimes.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera said that Vassallo’s criminal record includes a list of 17 convictions between September 1994 – when he was just 16 – and 2004. She said the court had given him various chances to get his life back in order but he had not taken advantage of these opportunities.

The magistrate said Vassallo had attended the drug rehabilitation programme as an excuse for the court not to hand down harsh punishments. She also pointed out that the psychologist who testified for the defence did not even refer to the defendant’s alleged drug problem.

Although Vassallo had a full-time job, he had not bothered to compensate the victims of his actions for the damage they had sustained.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera therefore jailed Vassallo for three years and ordered him to pay Lm192 in court expenses.

Police inspector Stephen Mallia prosecuted.