Trio arraigned over spate of thefts from Mġarr, St Paul’s Bay

A mother and her teenage son were on Friday jointly accused of a series of aggravated thefts from an Mġarr restaurant and a St Paul’s Bay residence late last year. Maria Pia Zammit, 34, and her 19-year old son Leon Lee Zammit, from Lija, were charged with three separate instances of aggravated theft at the Mġarr restaurant on November 17 and 29. They were also jointly charged with another theft on New Year’s Eve from a St Paul’s Bay residence, the home of a person reportedly employed at the restaurant. The son was separately charged over another coup at the Mġarr restaurant on the evening of December 13 which, however, resulted in an attempt. The prosecution explained that “several thousands” were reported stolen in both thefts. Investigations by the CID had ultimately zoomed in upon the duo. During their arraignment on Friday, the mother sobbed miserably as she sat in dock beside her son. The young man pleaded guilty and was granted bail, pending the drawing up of a pre-sentencing report, against a deposit of €4,000, a personal guarantee of €15,000, an order to sign the bail book every day and a curfew between 9.30pm and 7am. His mother, who pleaded not guilty, was remanded in...