A court of appeal today overturned a decision that a former policeman was guilty of conspiring to traffic drugs.

Jean Pierre Abdilla had been jailed for 16 years in December 2009 and fined €40,600 for trafficking in heroin, trying to corrupt an immigration official and keeping dead protected birds.

Jurors had returned a guilty verdict finding him guilty of conspiring to traffic a kilogram of heroin, trafficking in the drug, being in possession of the drug and trying to bribe an immigration official.

The Criminal Appeal said that according to the evidence presented, Mr Abdilla could not have been found guilty of conspiring to traffic drugs.

It, however, confirmed the rest of the charges.

The court also noted that its decision did not warrant a change in the jail term given.

Mr Abdilla’s lawyer Edward Gatt is expected to file a constitutional case on the matter next week.

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