A drug user described as having reformed himself was jailed yesterday after failing to convince a magistrate that drugs found in his possession three years ago were for his personal use.

Ernest Briffa, 31, of Żabbar was stopped by the police in May 2007 and began stuffing his mouth with sachets of heroin in an attempt to hide them, the court heard. He managed to swallow all but one.

In a search at his house, the police found two weighing scales, pieces of paper similar to that used for the sachets, six grammes of heroin and €600 in cash.

The police never established the amount of heroin he had ingested in the sachets but charged him on the basis of the drugs they found at his home.

Mr Briffa admitted to the police that the items found were his, however, one weighing scale was faulty and the other, he said, was used to measure the amount of food he was consuming because he had once weighed 150 kilos.

He told the police he was in possession of a large amount of drugs because he used to burn it and not inject it directly into his veins, which meant there would be a lot of wastage and so he needed a larger amount than usual.

Mr Briffa's father, Joseph, testified that his son had since left his dubious past behind him and was doing well. He had now secured a job as a supervisor, which also gave him a certain responsibility.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said that, taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration, he did not believe the accused and was convinced that the drugs were not meant solely for his use but also for others.

He found him guilty of possession of drugs in circumstances denoting they were not for his exclusive use. He jailed him for 11 months and fined him €1,000.