A former drug addict caught with drugs in 2011 was this morning jailed for 18 months after he was found guilty of possession of heroin denoting it was not for his personal use.

Jonathan Bonello, 34, from Attard, was caught with the drugs on Boxing Day in 2011 but has since began and concluded a drug rehabilitation programme.

However, despite this improvement in his life and the fact that he managed to kick the habit, Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras said she could not ignore the fact that he was caught with more than 66 grams of heroin, which was enough to prepare 660 sachets for sale.

The court heard how Mr Bonello was seen approaching a man, Mario John Debono, on whom the police found a sachet of heroin. He denied that Mr Bonello had sold the drugs to him but when Mr Bonello was arrested and his house searched, the police found 66.49 grams of heroin in three sachets. They also found several plastic sachets and three weighing scales. He also had €1,710 in cash.

In his statement to the police, the accused admitted he was addicted to heroin and his mother told the court that her son had been an addict for the past seven years.

The defence argued that the heroin was for their client's personal use but the court said the defence had not brought any evidence to support this fact by, for example, getting proof of how much heroin he used every day.

Through a pre-sentencing report, Mr Bonello's probation officer said that Mr Bonello had managed to kick the habit and was submitting regular urine samples.

However, Magistrate Galea Sciberras said that despite this good news, the court could not ignore the fact that the accused had so much heroin that it was a danger for society.

She therefore jailed him for 18 months and fined him €2,500 and ordered him to pay almost €2,000 in court expenses.

Police Inspector Herman Mula prosecuted.