A man with a 21-page conviction booklet over a variety of offences since his first court case two decades ago has been spared 30 months in jail after a judge heard how he had finally mended his ways.
Presiding over the court of criminal appeal, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that 41-year-old car dealer Keith Pace has spent more than half his life living a life of crime, mostly to fund his drug addiction.
However, this did not preclude the court from giving him another chance if it was convinced that he had really embarked on the road away from crime and other vices.
She took note of the fact that his probation officer, Matthew Fleri Soler, testified that Pace was currently going through the most stable period of his life.
The probation officer said that he had been following him since 2011 and that he had now made progress. He was involved in community work, in line with various court rulings, and maintained regular contact with the probation officer.
Fleri Soler confirmed that since 2013, he has seen a great change in Pace, and that he is registering “steady progress”.
The court was hearing the appeal to a 2020 court ruling over two thefts. Pace had admitted to aggravated theft exceeding €2,300 from a house in Paola on August 14, 2018. He had also pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery from another house in Santa Venera in September 2019.
The judge converted his jail term into a three-year probation order, warning him to behave and abide by all the instructions he is given, including not frequenting problematic places and certain people. He was also ordered to continue addressing his drug addiction.
The court also warned him that in the event of a positive urine test, this factor alone would amount to a breach of the probation order. Pace was also ordered to compensate the victim of the theft the sum of €2,000 within three years.
The prosecution was led by police inspectors Mario Xiberras, Shawn Pawney and Wayne Camilleri while lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.