A Ħamrun man with a 17-page criminal record will spend his fourth term in jail after being found guilty of having trafficked drugs.
Martin Debono, 47, commonly known among locals as ‘il-Boccu’, was arrested and prosecuted over charges of having regularly supplied heroin to four addicts who sought him out at his residence so as to fuel their addiction.
At the time of his arrest in January 2012, a search at the man's home had yielded no drugs. While denying the allegations, the accused had chosen to remain silent during the police interrogation.
All four witnesses described separately how they would call their supplier and make their request over the phone
The prosecution’s case pivoted upon the testimony of the four customers who recounted in court how they used to call the accused on his mobile number to fix a meeting for the drug deal.
Although none of them knew the man by name, referring to him only by his nickname, they did identify him in photos shown to them by the police and even later in court.
One of the witnesses, a female addict who got hooked at the age of 16, had told the police how she often bought 0.5 grams of heroin for €40.
The strategy adopted by the accused had been identical with respect to each customer. All four witnesses described separately how they would call their supplier and make their request over the phone. They would then proceed to the accused's home close to the Ħamrun square, meeting the man in the common area outside his flat where the deal would be concluded.
Although the defence contested the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, the court, presided over by Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, rejected this argument pointing out the accused's guilt had been proved beyond all reasonable doubt, noting that the testimony presented by one witness had such “consistency and detail as to be deemed credible and likely”. The witness had supplied the police with full details regarding the trafficking activity, even mentioning other third parties who sustained her habit.
The court noted that call profiles supplied by local service providers showed that 17 calls made by one of the witnesses over a span of two weeks had been traced to a number in Ħamrun, in the vicinity of the accused's residence.
When deciding upon punishment, the court commented upon the accused's 17-page criminal record showing past convictions for aggravated theft, fraud, falsification of documents and simple drug possession. This was indicative of ‘an unruly lifestyle,’ the court observed, sentencing him to two years nine months imprisonment, a fine of €2,750 and the sum of €955.19 to cover court expert fees.