A judge on Monday issued a supervision order for six youths who allegedly ganged up against a 16-year-old boy, robbing him of cash and stabbing him with a penknife in a Floriana public garden on February 3.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera upheld a request by the attorney general’s office which asked the court to impose harsher bail conditions on the five girls and a boy who stand charged with the assault.

Attorney general lawyer Kenneth Camilleri told the court during a hearing on an urgent application filed before the Court of Appeal that the first court had been “very lenient” with the accused, especially after having ignored the prosecution’s concerns about the strong possibility of tampering with evidence.

In a decree, the judge said Magistrate Joe Mifsud was not wrong in using his discretion to release the youth on bail but should have imposed different bail conditions, especially since the alleged victim had not yet testified.

Last Tuesday, the group, aged between 14 and 20, were charged in court after they were identified as the alleged aggressors behind the mugging that took place on the previous Saturday evening at around 7pm at a public garden just outside City Gate.

Police from the Valletta station found the victim lying on the ground, with visible injuries to his face and hands.

He was rushed to Mater Dei Hospital where doctors confirmed he had sustained cut ligaments in his hands. His injuries were classified as grievous.

The 14-year-old boy and five females – one aged 17 from Paola, two sisters aged 14 and 15 from Gżira, a 15-year-old from Valletta and 20-year-old Aicha Mariah from Paola – all pleaded not guilty.

Three of the girls were charged with aggravated theft while the 20-year-old was separately charged with unlawful possession of the penknife as well as relapsing.

The alleged victim was not only attacked but also robbed of his bag, containing some €90 in cash.

Madam Justice Scerri Herrera placed all defendants under a supervision order to ensure they are followed closely throughout the course of the criminal case against them. Moreover, she ordered Aicha Mariah – the eldest of the group – to pay €500 as a bail deposit.

The court retained the €2,000 personal guarantee, the curfew between 10pm and 6am, the order to sign the bail book once a week and the strict orders not to approach the victim in any manner.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Francesca Zarb, Adreana Zammit, Ishmael Psaila, Dustin Camilleri and Alexia Attard were defence counsel.