Two migrants were sentenced to an effective jail term after they admitted to stealing a 12-foot boat and trying to flee Malta.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia heard 18-year-old Ishaq Adam and 23-year-old Adam Ibrahem Hassan, both Sudanese nationals, admit to the charges.

Inspector Lara Butters from the immigration section said the police were informed by the Armed Forces of Malta on Friday that they had detected a boat some eight miles from the Malta Freeport. The boat had been reported stolen from Birżebbuġa earlier that day. 

She said the men admitted during their interrogation that they had stolen the boat to leave Malta and head for Italy but ended up stranded because they ran out of fuel. 

The inspector told the court that they were alone on the boat and that the vessel had been returned to its owner. 

Magistrate Farrugia sentenced Hassan to 18 months in prison while Adam was jailed for 20 months.

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