The Constitutional Court has halved a man’s two-year jail term after it found a breach of his human rights, saying he could not be tried twice for the same crime.

The case dates back to 2009 when a magistrate cleared 23-year-old Luke Farrugia of theft but found him guilty of handling stolen property, being in possession of a gun without a licence and breaching the conditions of previous release. Mr Farrugia was jailed for two years.

Defence lawyers Giannella Caruana Curran and Josette Grech went to the Court of Criminal Appeal, which found the accused not guilty of handling stolen property but – also contrary to the first court’s judgment – guilty of stealing the gun. It confirmed his guilt on the other charges.

The two years’ jail term was also left untouched.

The lawyers then took the case to the Constitutional Court, which yesterday ruled that the Court of Criminal Appeal could not have found the accused guilty of theft when he had been acquitted of that specific charge in the Magistrates’ Court.

This was also significant because there had been no appeal by the Attorney General in the case, the court said.

The Constitutional Court ruled that this was effectively a breach of his human rights because he could not be tried twice for the same crime and reduced the jail term by one year.

Mr Farrugia was released from prison immediately as he had already served one year.