Jail term over forged notes suspended on appeal

A 24-year-old man who had been jailed for 13 months for the possession of four forged Lm10 notes had his jail term suspended for three years on appeal.

Jamal Badawi, of Greek origin, was found guilty of the possession of the forged bank notes when the police searched his Paceville apartment on October 20, 2002.

On finding him guilty the Magistrates' Court jailed him for 13 months. Mr Badawi appealed claiming he should have never been found guilty and, in any case, the jail term was excessive.

Mr Justice David Scicluna, in the Court of Criminal Appeal, heard how the police had found Mr Badawi in the possession of photocopies of bank notes he had copied from a Central Bank poster. The notes had the word "specimen" printed on them.

On taking note of the circumstances of the case and Mr Badawi's background, the judge suspended the 13-month jail term for three years.

In 2003 Mr Badawi had been cleared of raping and seriously injuring a 55-year-old woman in the Floriana subway.

The Attorney General stopped the proceedings against him when DNA tests excluded him as the perpetrator. A 16-year-old boy was then charged over the same case.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto appeared for Mr Badawi.