Cleared of ecstasy trafficking charges

A former gunner with the Armed Forces of Malta, who was found guilty of trafficking in ecstasy, was yesterday cleared of the charge on appeal.

The Magistrates' Court had found Anthony Joseph Portelli guilty of trafficking in ecstasy and committing the crime on August 15, 1997, when it was his duty to prevent it as an army officer.

Mr Portelli, 30, of Bugibba filed an appeal in the Criminal Court requesting that he be cleared of all charges.

During the appeal hearing, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano heard how Mr Portelli had been arraigned on August 20, 1997, and charged with the possession of "a specific and psychotropic drug".

A number of witnesses were heard and a court expert testified that the drug found in Mr Portelli's possession was of the restricted type and not the specific type as defined by law. After the prosecution and the defence rested their case, the court put off the case for judgement to November 30, 2005.

But on September 9, 2005, eight years after the arraignment, the Police Commissioner asked for a correction of the charges as "he seemed to have realised that the drugs in question were not a specific medicine but a restricted medicine", the court noted.

The Magistrates' Court had allowed the correction and proceeded to hand down judgement when such a correction should have been made in a much earlier stage of the court proceeding. For this reason the judge upheld Mr Portelli's appeal and cleared him of all charges.

Lawyers José Herrera, Roberto Montalto and Veronique Dalli appeared for Mr Portelli.