Former Judge Patrick Vella withdraws appeal

Former Judge Patrick Vella yesterday filed a note in court withdrawing his appeal against the sentence he was handed down after pleading guilty in a bribery case.

The case involved the reduction of a drug trafficker's prison sentence.

On March 13, Dr Vella was jailed for two years after he admitted to the charges in a trial presided by Mr Justice Caruana Demajo.

He then filed an appeal claiming the punishment was "excessive and disproportionate" to the circumstances of the case.

Dr Vella was first arraigned in August 2002.

At his trial, Dr Vella expressed remorse for his actions soon after he pleaded guilty to accepting a Lm10,000 bribe to reduce a drug trafficker's jail term by four years.

The drug trafficker Mario Camilleri's son, Pierre, approached Joseph Zammit, known as Is-Sei, who in turn approached Dr Vella to reduce Mr Camilleri's jail term in exchange for Lm10,000.

In July 2002, the Court of Criminal Appeal reduced Mr Camilleri's jail term to 12 years. That same day, Dr Vella collected Lm5,000 from Mr Zammit.

After hearing submissions, Mr Justice Caruana Demajo jailed Dr Vella and ordered that the time spent in preventive custody be deducted from the jail term. Time spent under house arrest did not qualify.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo recommended to the prison authorities to ensure that Dr Vella would be given all necessary medical and psychological help and ensure his safety.

Sources had then told The Times that Dr Vella was being kept in a prison section for "vulnerable" people.