Court 'miscalculated' punishment

An appeals court yesterday reduced a man's jail term from three years to 15 months after it heard that he had been found in possession of only two mobile phones out of 10 stolen during a hold-up in 2003.

Mr Justice David Scicluna concluded that the first court had miscalculated the punishment handed down to Francis Cuschieri because it had incorrectly considered that he was in possession of all 10 phones.

Mr Cuschieri had bought the phones worth €629 from a drug addict near the old hospital for a small amount. When questioned by the police about where he bought them from he had replied: "Over there they bring along everything and anything, just to get a quick fix". An unknown man approached him and he duly bought the phones.

Mr Cuschieri had originally been cleared of committing a hold-up from a shop, stealing cash and the mobile phones but was found guilty of handling stolen property and was jailed for three years. In his appeal he argued that his punishment was excessive and that the first court had not considered the evidence correctly.

After taking into consideration Mr Cuschieri's voluminous criminal record, the court decided to reduce the punishment by 21 months giving Mr Cuschieri an effective term of 15 months.

Mr Cuschieri is also serving a four-year term for setting fire to the cell at a police station and attempting to run over a policeman. In 1997, he had been jailed for hitting a woman on the head with a crash helmet.