A young man who ran into serious trouble as a result of his uncontrollable drug addiction has been sentenced to imprisonment and placed under mandatory treatment after admitting to a case of arson.

The 23-year old, whose name was banned from publication upon arraignment last month, admitted to having started a the door of a Hamrun residence on November 5 at around 5.15pm.

Once the flames a the house on Alexander Street were put out, investigators sensed that the fire must have been intentional since there was an unmistakable smell of fuel.

That suspicion was subsequently confirmed and CCTV footage  led to the identification and arrest of the arsonist.

The man, who had been placed under probation last year, admitted his involvement in the arson attack and also cooperated with police.

Investigators confirmed that when the fire broke out the house was empty.

The accused had shared that accommodation for some time, the court was told.

Two days after the incident, the youth registered an admission to setting the front door on fire, wilfully damaging third-party property as well as committing those offences while under probation.

The court upheld a request by the defence lawyer for a pre-sentencing report.

The probation officer tasked with reporting back to the court explained that the youth’s dependence on synthetic drugs was so acute and uncontrollable that he had ended up homeless, even severing ties with his mother.

Although he had been placed under probation in separate proceedings last year, the youth still lacked motivation to address his various personal problems.

And he needed to address those problems in order to turn his life around and avoid future run-ins with the law, the court was told.

In light of such circumstances magistrate Rachel Montebello observed that the youth needed mandatory treatment and psychiatric care for the problems triggered by his drug abuse.

Taking note of his early guilty plea, his cooperation with police as well as the fact that his criminal record was not voluminous, the court concluded that the best way forward was an effective jail term tending towards the minimum.

The court thus condemned the accused to a 24-month jail term and another month for the previous offences in respect of which he had been placed under probation, together with a €100 fine.

Moreover, the court placed him under a 3-year treatment order and a 2-year restraining order in respect of the arson victim, effective once he has served sentence.

Inspectors Jeffrey Scicluna, Mario Xiberras and Stacey Gatt prosecuted.