Two 17-year-old young men have been placed on probation and ordered to perform community service after being found guilty of an assault that had left one 15-year-old boy’s leg broken in two places.

The assault had taken place in Merchants Street, at around 10pm on January 21, 2023, an incident that had had sparked controversy at the time, with Prime Minister Robert Abela later saying that he was afraid to allow his daughter to be in Valletta on her own.

The defendants, from Valletta and Floriana, whose names cannot be reported because they are minors, were charged with the offence in January. 

The following month, they pleaded guilty to charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm on the 15-year-old, causing four other youths to fear violence, attacking them and insulting them, as well as slightly injuring two other minors.

The court had ordered probation officers to compile a pre-sentencing report before it would hand down a sentence. 

That report was completed and presented to the court in March and had recommended that the youths be handed a probation order “so as to provide them with adequate guidance and not to repeat this type of action or other behaviour that could lead them to our courts’ door again.”

In a judgement, handed down last week, Magistrate Lara Lanfranco said that in the light of the defendants’ early and unconditional admission of guilt, the court could not but find them guilty.

With regards to the punishment, the court said that it had taken into account the circumstances of the case, the young age of the defendants, their clean criminal records and their early guilty plea. It followed the probation officers’ recommendations, putting both youths on probation for three years and ordering them to perform at least 60 hours of community service.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri assisted on of the youths, while lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb assisted the other defendant.