John Mifsud stormed out of the court room yesterday, kicking the dock gate in rage after he was jailed for causing the death of his cousin through a heroin overdose.

Jurors returned after five hours of deliberation finding him guilty by eight votes to one of trafficking and possessing heroin and by six votes to three of the involuntary homicide of 32-year-old David Spiteri in September 2005.

The jurors also found that Mr Spiteri was to blame for his own death.

The victim had been found unconscious by his mother after taking a fatal mix of tranquillisers and heroin. The pills enhance the effect of the heroin by five times and it was this concoction that killed him.

In a police statement, Mr Mifsud had said that on the day of the incident, his cousin had begged him so much to give him heroin that he lost his temper and handed his cousin a small amount of heroin. He only gave Mr Spiteri a small amount of the drug because he knew his cousin could not handle much because he was on prescription pills.

The head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's office, lawyer Anthony Barbara read out Mr Mifsud's criminal record, which dates back to 1999 and features convictions for theft and drug possession.

Taking the witness stand during submissions on punishment, Mr Mifsud's probation officer said that since 2007 he had been clean of drugs, got a full time job and his girlfriend was expecting a baby.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono said that, in terms of punishment, his hands were tied given the jurors' verdict.

Mr Mifsud was jailed for seven years and fined €3,000. If the fine is not paid it will be converted into six months jail.

Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud appear-ed for Mr Mifsud.