Four Nigerian men who were given suspended jail sentences this morning got down on their knees to thank the magistrate for not having sent them behind bars.
The four had been convicted for being in possession of false residence permits.
After hearing of the suspended sentences, all four men dropped to their knees in court, praising and thanking Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera. They lifted their hands in praise while making the sign of the cross while two of them sobbed loudly.
The unusual scene lasted for a few minutes before the four were ushered out of the court room by the police while the magistrate looked on in amusement.
Libyan jailed for a year
In a separate case, Jassem Al Taher, 25, a Libyan national resident in Swieqi, was today jailed for a year after he admitted stealing a mobile phone, €81 in cash and other items for a total value of €233 on December 17 from Cube Bar, Paceville.
He also admitted stealing a mobile phone, digital camera and other items from Bar Native on the following day.
Legal aid Renzo Porsella Flores told the court that his client was drunk and under the effect of drugs at the time.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that the accused was a relapser.
Three admit to stealing decorations
Clayton Fiott, 23, of Sta Venera, Sergio Zerafa, 25 of Qormi and Shaun Aquilina, 24 of Qormi, pleaded guilty to stealing decorations from inside Leaf Ltd in Mdina Road, Qormi, on December 13.
Fiott and Zerafa also admitted another theft of decorations from the same company two days later.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, after taking into consideration their clean criminal record, placed them under probation for two years and gave them a stern warning not to dabble in crime as that would land them behind bars.
Admits using somebody else's passport
Ahmed Mohammed Shih Ahmed, 29, a Syrian, this morning pleaded guilty in court to having used a passport belonging to another man. The passport was not false.
The police were told that he had insisted with the police that he was the man in the passport and only admitted in court to the interpreter, minutes before being arraigned, that he was not the man as claimed in the passport.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera jailed him for six months suspended for three years.