A man who managed to avoid a prison sentence for smashing the car window of his ex-girlfriend's car will still spend three years behind bars after being found guilty of aggravated possession of ecstasy.

Jerken Declis, 31, from Marsa, was found guilty of injuring his ex-fiancée when he could not accept that their seven-year relationship had ended. He was given a nine-month jail term suspended for four years.

The court heard how Mr Declis smashed a window of his girlfriend's car after she refused to lower it, punching her in the face in the process. The incident took place on June 28, 2009, in Zejtun Road in Marsaxlokk.

His ex-girlfriend, Nathalie Camilleri, told the court she had forgiven Mr Declis for what he had done and wanted the court case to stop there. However, the crime was of a serious nature and the police proceeded ex officio.

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia found him guilty of damaging the car but ruled that his intention was to smash the window and not to punch Ms Camilleri. She therefore only found him guilty of involuntary bodily harm. She also noted that Mr Decelis had paid for the damage cause to the car window.

But in a separate judgment later in the same sitting, Mr Decelis did not avoid a three-year prison sentence and a €3,000 fine after being found guilty of aggravated possession of ecstasy after he was found in possession of a bag containing 54 pills.

The court heard how the police randomly stopped a car in which Mr Declis was a passenger on November 13, 2004. He was seen throwing something onto the back seat. There they found the plastic bag.

He admitted that the pills were his and that he consumed seven pills at every party he attended. He also told the police that he never sold any pills.

In court, Mr Decelis never denied that the pills were his but contended that they were for his exclusive use.

But Magistrate Farrugia noted that only people found in possession of a maximum of two pills could claim that they were for their exclusive use. She said it was not credible that he purchased the pills in bulk and neither that he was a heavy user, since he had only started abusing of the drug four months before being caught.

She noted that Mr Decelis had three convictions on his criminal record, all related to drug possession and trafficking.