‘No lawyer during investigation’

An 18-year-old drug user has claimed a breach of human rights after he was not granted access to a lawyer during police investigation.

Warren Bugeja, of Marsaxlokk, was taken to hospital on May 1, 2008 after suffering an overdose of ecstasy and was then charged with simple possession of the drug a year later.

During the compilation of evidence, an emergency doctor, Tracy Azzopardi, told the court she had no information about Mr Bugeja’s medical file which contained information about the overdose.

That fact rendered Mr Bugeja’s statement the only evidence in the case and at this point his lawyer, Franco Debono, made a Constitutional reference to three previous judgments of the same court which declared that the human rights of suspects were breached because they had no access to a lawyer.

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia acceded to the request and referred the acts of the proceedings to the Civil Court for a decision.