Repentant thief pleads for clemency

A man who just after midnight on Monday broke into a parked car and stole items belonging to its owner was granted bail pending a pre-sentencing report after admitting to the charges. Jonathan Attard, 39, from Iklin, just recently employed with a towing company, pleaded for clemency upon his arraignment on Tuesday afternoon after registering an admission to the aggravated theft, voluntary damage to third party property as well as committing such wrongdoing while under a three-year probation order delivered last year. In the light of such charges, the court, presided over by magistrate Aaron Bugeja, explained to the accused that “his hands were tied”. “Can’t you show clemency? I know I was wrong. I made a mistake. I’m willing to pay for all damages. You won’t see me here again, I swear!” the man pleaded, running his hands through his hair and wiping away his tears. “You ought to have considered this before breaking into that car,” the magistrate told the man standing before him at the dock, observing that the accused had acknowledged his mistake from the very start when releasing his statement to the police. The man had apparently faced problems in the past, had been ‘clean’ for...