A man was yesterday sentenced to 16 months in jail for having almost 400 grams of cannabis, just days after another got 21 months for less than half the amount.

Christopher Mifsud, 29, from Ħamrun, was caught by the police at his home with 373 grams of cannabis and some €4,500 in cash on November 17, 2003.

Magistrate Miriam Hayman found him guilty of cannabis possession in circumstances denoting it was not for his exclusive use.

Apart from the jail term he was also fined €2,500.

Just 10 days earlier, Sean Farrugia, 25, from Birkirkara, who had a 10-year history of taking the drug, was convicted over an identical charge, only 140 grams of cannabis was involved.

Mr Farrugia pleaded guilty and was jailed and fined €500.

The apparent discrepancy in the two judgments is likely to rekindle calls for a sentencing policy. The matter was also raised in the final report of the Commission on Judicial Reform headed by former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello.

The commission noted that “unfortunately, there was no consistency among the judiciary in the administration of punishments in cases with relatively similar facts”.

It said there was no consistency between one crime and another, saying, as an example, that a relatively minor crime would invoke a stiff punishment while a more serious one would be punished by a lighter sentence.

It said that a sentencing policy should be seriously considered. However, it added, punishments mandatory by law should be avoided and left up to the adjudicators.

A commission on sentencing policy should be formed comprising former magistrates and judges and other experts in the field of law including social workers and criminologists, it suggested.