Two men who had been convicted and sentenced to jail for bribing judges had their sentences confirmed today while a third had his prison term reduced.

Mario Camilleri also known as l-imnieħru and his son Pierre who were jailed for four years and three years respectively, had their sentences confirmed.

Anthony Grech Sant had his prison sentence reduced by the Court of Criminal Appeal from three years to 20 months because he had no other criminal record and because he was only involved in the bribery of one judge.

The original sentences were delivered in October last year. The cases involved the alleged bribery of then Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and the bribery of Mr Justice Patrick Vella.

The case sent shock waves through the islands after the secret service flagged it up during an investigation into drug trafficking in 2002.

The information was that a 16-year jail term, handed down to Mr Camilleri for drug trafficking, on appeal had been reduced by the two judges sitting in the Criminal Court of Appeal after they allegedly accepted a Lm10,000 bribe.

In March 2007, Dr Vella pleaded guilty to the charges and was given a two-year jail term which he has served.

His conviction followed that of Joseph Zammit, known as is-Sei, who a year earlier had admitted to bribing Dr Vella and former Chief Justice Arrigo.

Dr Arrigo is still out on bail awaiting trial.