The Chief Justice said this morning he could not understand how a young man had been given five suspended jail terms by the Magistrates’ Court.

In his judgement on an appeal by Roderick Barun, 23, who had been jailed for three years on February 26 for living off the earnings of prostitution, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano decreased the punishment to two years but said its was not excessive as he has already broken the law several times and had, therefore, relapsed.

The Chief Justice said that “when the court sees that he had already been convicted seven times (for various crimes not connected to prostitution) and was given five suspended jail terms and a conditional discharge, he could not understand how liberally he was treated”.

He said “that one would have to ask if the courts are applying this form of punishment correctly or if the prosecution are going before the courts armed with the necessary information about the accused, so that the Magistrates’ Court can be certain that no abuse, even if not intentional, occurs”.