Two Slovaks were today jailed for six months and fined €720 each after they were found guilty of cultivating three cannabis plants. 

David Strba, 18 and Zdenk Klein, 23, both from Mellieha, were arrested last July after police from the Drugs Squad raided their apartment and found the plants on the roof, together with paraphernalia used in the consumption of marijuana.

The punishment was met with surprise by many lawyers in the courtroom who inevitably drew a comparison with the case of Welshman Daniel Holmes who is serving a ten-and-half-year jail sentence for the cultivation of five cannabis plants in 2006. Mr Holmes, however, had also been found guilty of trafficking the plant.

His punishment, which also included a €23,000 fine, had been confirmed on appeal. Mr Holmes is still battling the harsh prison sentence, with a Constitutional Court expected to deliver judgment on Monday. He also won €7,000 in compensation after the court found "inexcusable delays" in the compilation of evidence that lasted seven long years. 

Mr Strba and Mr Klein had pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying that they had used cannabis in the past, but denied growing the plants seized. 

Their flatmate, Martin Cabejsek told the court that the plants had been sown by a previous tenant who had shared the flat with them but who had since returned to his country of origin.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, however, said that although the seeds had not been planted by the two men, the fact that they watered the plants to keep them alive made them guilty of the crime. Photographs of the cannabis plants had also been found on their mobile phones.

Police Inspector Pierre Grech prosecuted.