A man who disappeared shortly after being interrogated by the police in connection with drugs said yesterday he spent two weeks sleeping in empty houses and on the road before deciding to turn himself in.

I just want to get off cannabis. I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been doing it for far too long, masking my feelings and insecurities

A tired-looking Terry Embleton yesterday walked into the police headquarters in Floriana accompanied by his wife Kerry.

He later appeared in court accused of trafficking and being in possession of 74 cannabis-filled sachets.

He had been arrested late on December 13 along with his wife following a police raid on their Qawra home. The police said they confiscated 74 small packets of cannabis and an ecstasy pill.

Mrs Embleton was released after questioning but he was held for the night. In the morning, he complained of chest pains and was taken to Mater Dei Hospital. The police had planned to continue speaking to him on his release from hospital but he left unannounced some time on Wednesday morning and the police then started to look for him.

His disappearance worried his wife. Then, last Monday night, he called her telling her that he wanted to give himself up.

Speaking outside the police depot, Mr Embleton said his wife was the reason he had decided to turn himself in.

“I decided to turn myself in because it’s not fair on my wife. I need to own up to her. Yes, I had cannabis on me. Yes, I was smoking a lot of cannabis but I was doing it for myself. I was buying it myself. It’s not fair for my wife to go through all this,” he said.

It screws up your mind. It’s not a recreational drug... I’ve been smoking since I was 13

“I know I’m going to prison. I don’t mind that. I was scared for (my wife’s) safety. In a silly way I thought that by running away I’ll protect her. But I made it worse, a lot worse for her, because she got more s***,” he said.

He insisted that he was a victim of cannabis abuse but was not a trafficker stressing, in between sobs and shaking, that he needed help.

“I’m a mess and I need help. I just want to get off cannabis. I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been doing it for far too long, masking my feelings and insecurities. I just don’t like it”.

Mr Embleton said he spent €50 to €70 a day to get about three grammes a day. “I’ve been trying to cut them down... but I can’t find help anywhere else,” he said.

He made a plea against cannabis, which, he stressed “is not OK”.

“It screws up your mind. It’s not a recreational drug. I’m sorry but it’s not. I’ve been smoking since I was 13-years-old. The cannabis I’ve smoked, it’s unbelievable.”

He blamed the chest pains he had complained about on stress and the thought that he could die young in prison and not be able to be with his wife again. His mother was 43 and he was 17 when she passed away.

In fact, it seems the death of his mother – with whom he was very close – still plays a significant role in his outlook on life, especially since he has no relationship with his father.

“We hate each other. He broke my nose and my cheek and I got thrown out of the house. I cried for help and got none,” he said.

Mr Embleton claims he was being forced to deal by a Maltese person.

He said that when he recently lost his job the person who sold him drugs started making threats.

“I lost my job and everything was up in the air. So that’s where he (the dealer) told me you owe me money or else your missus has to work for me. I told him just f*** off.”

Mr Embleton said four men went to his house threatening his wife with a gun to her head demanding that the two start dealing drugs for them.

Mrs Embleton recounted a similar situation last week.