An attempt by a young man to dissociate himself from a sachet of cocaine that fell from his underwear during a police search ended up backfiring and saw him charged with aggravated possession.

Christian Attard, 26, from Floriana, had been to a party on September 28, 2008 in Floriana and was searched by police when a small sachet of cocaine fell out of his underwear.

He immediately denied any wrongdoing and said that the sachet was not his. He denied ever taking or selling drugs. He was subsequently charged with aggravated possession of the drug.

Assistant Police Commissioner Norbert Ciappara said in court that the only reason the accused was charged with aggravated possession was because he denied that the drug was his, which implied that the drug might have been meant for another person.

Defence lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili argued that at the time of his arrest and interrogation, their client was 20-years-old and had never been in police custody. He had also not been accorded a lawyer during the interrogation and so his police statement should not be taken into consideration.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Scibberas said that whether or not she took the statement into consideration was irrelevant because she could arrive at one conclusion: the police did not prove their case of aggravated possession.

Attard was conditionally discharged for a year on conviction of simple possession.