35 years' jail for trying to kill policeman

Emmanuel Camilleri, known as Leli l-bully, was last night jailed for 35 years and fined Lm50,000 after a jury found him guilty of trying to kill a police officer and his family and of two counts of drug trafficking.

The fine will be converted into another 18 months imprisonment unless paid within a fortnight.

Camilleri was found guilty, by seven votes to two, of placing a bomb outside the house of Michael Cassar, then an inspector in the drug squad, and of trying to murder him and his family.

Jurors also returned a guilty verdict, by the same margin, on a charge of heroin trafficking, and on a count of cocaine trafficking by eight votes to one.

They unanimously found Camilleri guilty of relapsing, after he was convicted of being in possession of 14 bullets. Camilleri was acquitted, by six votes to three, of seriously injuring Marco Abdilla.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono pronounced sentence just before 11 p.m., shortly after jurors gave their verdict.

Assistant Attorney General Anthony Barbara, prosecuting, had demanded the maximum sentence, arguing that apart from drug trafficking Camilleri had been found guilty of trying to undermine the guardians of society who were involved in the fight against drugs.

The prosecution asked the judge to look at the case as part of a wider pattern of organised crime and to give the accused a sentence that would serve as a lesson to others.

The defence asked for clemency, noting that the verdict was not unanimous.

In passing sentence, Mr Justice Galea Debono said the court had noted that the verdict was not a unanimous one and that in such cases, drug trafficking offences carried penalties of between four and 30 years in prison and a fine of up to Lm50,000. The court, however, felt that the penalty should be closer to the maximum.

The court also noted that the charge of placing a bomb and attempting to kill Cassar and his family could be absorbed into one, for which the penalty ranged between seven and 20 years in jail.

The judge said Camilleri had tried to kill a policeman who was doing his duty and the court had to show it protected such officers. He therefore sentenced Camilleri to 35 years in jail, which, considering the verdict, was the maximum sentence he could have been given. For a life sentence to be given, the verdict has to be unanimous.

The court decided that the time Camilleri spent in preventive custody should be deducted from the prison term, which, sources said, means that he will spend between 18 and 19 years behind bars.

Camilleri has been in preventive custody since 1998. He was released on bail in 1999, but was re-arrested when he was seen at the feast in Zabbar and has been in jail since.

Together with a number of other persons, Camilleri is facing proceedings over another drug trafficking case, in which the police claim he took part in a drug deal linked to the importation of drugs from Sicily.

The police claim he was involved in the case while he was behind bars at Corradino prison.

The court yesterday also ordered the confiscation of Camilleri's assets and condemned him to pay Lm109 in costs.

Camilleri remained calm throughout, showing hardly any emotion. He only shook his head to show disagreement as the foreman of the jurors read the verdict and when the prosecution urged the court to hand down a tough sentence.

He was seen consoling and caressing a tearful Trudy Camilleri née Testa, whom he married just three days before the start of the trial. Ms Camilleri is out on bail as she too is facing proceedings in connection with the alleged importation of drugs from Sicily.

Jurors spent around seven hours deliberating to reach their verdict. They started deliberating at around 1 p.m. yesterday after hearing the second part of Mr Justice Galea Debono's address, which lasted five hours.

Dr John Attard Montalto and Dr Michael Sciriha appeared for Camilleri.