A man was jailed for 14 months and fined €1,000 for trafficking in heroin and the possession of cannabis seeds - which he told police were bird food for his pet finch.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras also found Gerald Cauchi, 50, guilty of selling drugs in an area frequented by young people in January 2010.

The court heard how, on January 27, police carried out a search at Liverpool Bar in Hamrun that was run by Mr Cauchi. As soon as police walked in they noticed Mr Cauchi throw a plastic bag under the counter.

The plastic bag contained 16 sachets of heroin amounting to a total of 6.6 grams. During a search at the bar they also found two cameras, seven wrist watches, two mobile phones, two car stereos and a plastic bag containing seeds.

They searched Mr Cauchi's house and found two electronic weighing scales and pieces of foil.

The accused insisted he had a drug addiction problem and did not sell drugs from the bar.

He did, however, tell investigators he had sold drugs occasionally from the Hamrun square to sustain his habit and said he had not done so in a long time. 

Mr Cauchi said he had bought the scales from Oxford Street and the seeds were food for his pet finch which had been with him for three years.

But germination tests on 100 random seeds showed they were cannabis seeds.

The magistrate found that the prosecution had sufficiently proven the charges and noted that the accused had previous convictions.

She recommended that he be provided with the help to overcome his habit while serving time.