A man who broke into an elderly woman's house in Sliema and attempted to rob her has been given a suspended prison sentence. 

Christopher Scerri, 46, was originally handed a four year jail term but it was reduced to a suspended sentence on appeal. 

He has a history of targeting elderly people in robberies. 

The victim, a woman in her 80s, returned home from mass in October 2018 to find her house in disarray. However Scerri left empty handed because the woman had hidden her valuables. 

He was sentenced in 2019 and ordered to forfeit €74,000 he had guaranteed as bail for a separate case.

But on Thursday, Judge Neville Camilleri ruled that the original penalty was too harsh and handed him a suspended sentence instead. He is also no longer required to hand over the money.

In his appeal, Scerri, via his lawyer Franco Debono, asked the court to reconsider his guilty verdict, arguing that Magistrate Joe Mifsud had relied only on circumstantial evidence when delivering his ruling.

The court dismissed that request, saying that there was enough corroborated testimony for the conviction.

Scerri also argued that the penalty he was given was too harsh, given the circumstances of the case. The judge agreed with that argument.

He also took note that Scerri had worked to overcome his drug addiction, which had motivated his attempted robbery.

Therefore, Judge Camilleri reduced the four-year effective jail term to two years, suspended for four years.

The magistrate's decision that Scerri must pay €74,000 was also annulled. However, the judge upheld a ruling that he must pay €12.84 in court fees.

Last month, Scerri was also given a significantly reduced sentence on appeal in a separate case. 

He had been sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing €10,954 in cash and around €4,000 worth of jewellery while an elderly couple was attending mass in 2009. 

That sentence was reduced to an 18-month effective prison term.

Beside Debono, lawyers Marion Camilleri and Adreana Żammit defended the accused.