Cleared of having heroin in hospital

A man has been cleared of being in possession of heroin in hospital after a magistrate ruled that the charge had not been sufficiently proven. Charles Muscat, known as Il-Pips, was cleared of the charge of possession of the drug at St Luke's Hospital on February 23, 2004.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano heard Police Inspector Nezren Grixti, prosecuting, explain how in February 2004 Mr Muscat, a prison inmate, had been taken to hospital to undergo treatment.

He was escorted from prison to the hospital where he was constantly watched by the police. As Mr Muscat was being administered anaesthetic, the doctor noted that he thought Mr Muscat may be under the influence of heroin.

When the police went to search Mr Muscat's room, they found 1.265 grammes of heroin in his bedside table.

The magistrate noted that the doctor gave a slightly different version in which he said he had been informed that Mr Muscat abused heroin. However, the magistrate noted, this may have referred to the past. After evaluating the evidence, the magistrate noted that Mr Muscat had been searched when he left prison. When in hospital he had been constantly watched by the police and his room was a public space over which he did not have complete control.

The magistrate added that it did not result that the police had searched the bedside table before Mr Muscat moved into the hospital room. For these reasons, the evidence produced by the prosecution was not sufficient to convict Mr Muscat and Magistrate Quintano cleared him of the charge.

Mr Muscat is serving a 25-year jail term. In 1999, he had been found guilty in a trial by jury of the murder of Emmanuel Sultana and causing the death of Alfred Grima when he seriously injured him during a shooting incident in 1994.

Lawyer Josè Herrera and Veronique Dalli were defence counsel.