Homeless boy remanded in custody

A homeless 17-year-old boy was remanded in custody this morning after he pleaded not guilty to grabbing a bag belonging to two tourists and running away. This incident happened near Horn’s Ditch in Valletta last Tuesday. Taking the witness stand, the boy’s social worker, Alexia Sammut, said the boy lived at YMCA in Valletta. He had been in her care since February, had several problems including an addiction to sniffing lighter fluid, and was homeless. He had even spent a week living at Appogg before moving to YMCA. She said that his €2 a day pocket money had recently been stopped because he was picking on another child who was also resident at YMCA. Following this incident, the boy cooperated fully with police and returned the stolen money. Magistrate Giovanni Grixti asked the boy to spend his time in prison contemplating that this could be his home if he continued on this path.