Guilty of heroin possession

A 31-year-old man from Birkirkara was yesterday fined €700 (Lm300) after he was found guilty of possessing heroin and committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended jail term.

Renato Portelli was originally charged with the possession of 4.168 grammes of heroin which was found in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use in October 1998.

Upon hearing the evidence, however, the court presided over by Magistrate Lawrence Quintano ruled that the accused had no intention of trafficking the drug and, therefore, found him guilty of simple possession.

With regard to the second charge of conspiring to deal in drugs, the court referred to a previous judgment handed down by the Court of Criminal Appeal which stated that for this charge to result, the prosecution had to prove three elements - that there was an agreement between two or more people; that there was the intention to deal in drugs; and that there was an agreed plan of action.

The court said that in this case, one or more of these elements was missing so it ruled that the prosecution had not proven the charge.

Magistrate Quintano, however, found Mr Portelli guilty of committing a crime during the operative period of a one-year jail term suspended for four years, and of relapsing.

Upon hearing that Mr Portelli had managed to kick the habit, the magistrate fined him €700 and extended his suspended jail term by a further two years.

Police Superintendent Nicholas Ciappara prosecuted while lawyer Chris Cardona appeared for the accused.