Police suggested drug pusher's name, man claims

A man convicted of dealing in drugs, and whose testimony had sparked off proceedings for the extradition of a man from Spain to Malta for drug trafficking, yesterday told a court he had never mentioned the man's name but it had been suggested to him by the police.

Gregory Robert Eyre told Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima that any reference to a Mark Stephens made in a statement did not come from him but had been suggested to him by Police Superintendent Neil Harrison.

Mr Eyre was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Mark Kenneth Charles Stephens, 42, a Briton who lives in Spain. He is pleading not guilty to conspiring and associating himself with others to sell cocaine and cannabis resin in Malta.

Mr Eyre explained that he was arrested on August 11, 2003 and found to be in the possession of three kilogrammes of cocaine and over 7,000 ecstasy pills when he came to Malta from Spain.

He had been jailed for 15 years and fined Lm25,000 when he admitted to drug importation and conspiracy in relation to drug trafficking.

He explained that before his arrest he had been to Malta some two weeks earlier. During that visit he met up with a man called Vince Stivala, the owner of a restaurant called Tex Mex.

Mr Stivala had given him thousands of euros to hand over to Mr Stephens on his return to Spain as part of a business deal over a gentleman's club.

On his second trip to Malta he came over with his fiancée Susan Jayne Molyneaux. He was to carry three kilogrammes of cocaine but did not know for whom they were destined because he was to receive a phone call while on the island. His fiancée did not know about the drugs although she knew he was carrying something illegal.

When asked if he recognised Mr Stephens in court, Mr Eyre said he did not. Magistrate Padovani Grima cautioned him and a statement he released under oath was read out to him. In the statement, he said that this was the first drug run he carried out for Mr Stephens who had been sending drugs to Malta for at least 15 years. He added that he knew Mr Stephens very well and trusted him.

When the statement was read out, he told the court that when he was found in possession of the drugs and was arrested he first told the police he got the drugs from Russians. It was Superintendent Harrison who suggested the name of Mr Stephens.

Mr Eyre added that those parts of his statement which referred to Mr Stephens were not authentic but were the superintendent's words, which he did not contradict because "Mr Harrison said that I was facing 30 years imprisonment if I did not cooperate".

When the magistrate asked him why he had not informed the inquiring magistrate about this he replied he was in a foreign country where he did not know the law and was scared.

"Mr Harrison gave me the name of Mark Stephens. I know a Mark Stephens but he is not the same person in here. Just like in Malta Mario Camilleri and Joseph Mifsud are common names so is Mark Stephens."

At this point, he was cautioned about the "hefty" consequences of purjury to which he commented that he was already serving a hefty term.

Asked why he was not scared to tell the truth now, Mr Eyre said that now the judgement against him had been handed down.

"I have been in Malta for two years and I have a better understanding of the legal system. Then, I was not even allowed to see a lawyer."

Asked if he had been approached by anyone before testifying, he said he had been in a secluded division in prison and could not be approached by anyone. He denied fearing anyone.

The case continues on Friday.