A magistrate let a man off the hook after the brown substance found in his possession was not tested, leaving the police with no evidence it was heroin.

Emanuel Mizzi, 42, was cleared after a court ruled the case had not been proven because no evidence – forensic or otherwise – had been presented to prove that the substance was heroin.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras heard that Mr Mizzi was found lying on the ground outside a bank in Żabbar on September 4, 2009. A packet of cigarettes containing a small plastic sachet with a brown substance was found near him.

Mr Mizzi was taken to the locality’s police station where he asked a policewoman to let him have a closer look at the bag. When she picked up the sachet, he snatched it from her and swallowed it.

The magistrate noted that while the circumstances surrounding the case pointed towards the substance being heroin there was no proof it definitely was the drug. None of the doctors who treated the accused had testified in the case and neither had any tests been carried out on the substance in the packet.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil was defence counsel.