Two men have been conditionally discharged for possession of a small amount of drugs after a court heard how another man tried to implicate them when he was found with 595 ecstasy pills.

Glenn Gorman, 40, from England and Anthony Portelli, 39, of Sliema had denied that they were ever involved in the trafficking of the 595 pills after another man Jeffery Savage, 37, of Pembroke told the police that he was simply delivering the drugs for them.

Mr Savage was given a five-year jail term and fined €5,000 for trafficking in the drugs.

The court heard how, in January 2003, Mr Gorman and Mr Portelli both live in England and had come to Malta on holiday where they had purchased marijuana and some ecstasy pills from Mr Savage.

However, when Mr Savage was caught with the large amount of drugs he placed the blame on the other two men.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said she found Mr Savage to be an unreliable witness as he had changed his version twice besides giving a version of events which was riddled with inconsistencies.

She found that the versions given by the accused were credible and remained the same throughout the proceedings.

She found the men guilty of simple possession of the drugs and conditionally discharged them for three years.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Chris Grima appeared for the men.