Former policeman appeals jail term

Former policeman Jean Pierre Abdilla, 31, this morning filed an appeal after having earlier this month been condemned to 16 years in prison and fined €40,600 for trafficking in heroin, trying to corrupt an immigration official and keeping dead...

Former policeman Jean Pierre Abdilla, 31, this morning filed an appeal after having earlier this month been condemned to 16 years in prison and fined €40,600 for trafficking in heroin, trying to corrupt an immigration official and keeping dead protected birds.

The appeal was made by defence counsel Anglu Farrugia, who said it was based on points of law and fact.

Jurors had returned a guilty verdict after just three-and-a-half hours of deliberation finding Jean Pierre Abdilla, 31, guilty of all charges brought against him.

They found him guilty by seven votes to two of conspiring to traffic a kilogram of heroin, trafficking in the drug, being in possession of the drug and trying to bribe an immigration official.

He was found unanimously guilty of breaching administrative law enforcement regulations and possessing dead protected birds in a chest freezer.

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