Jailed for breaking probation order

A man was jailed for two years when a magistrate found he had breached a probation order.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro had put Charles Zammit on probation for three years in October 2003 when he was found guilty of forging cheques, fraud and relapsing.

Last March, a probation officer had informed the court that Mr Zammit had not abided by the probation order because he had presented a urine sample that was not his.

The sample did not contain traces of methadone which Mr Zammit was taking as part of a drug rehabilitation programme.

The magistrate consequently treated Mr Zammit as though he had just been found guilty of the crimes he had been charged with in October 2003 and jailed him for two years.

She recommended to the prison authorities to help him complete the drug rehabilitation programme.