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Mario Camilleri , 46, (known as l-imniehru), his son Pierre, 20, of St Paul's Bay and Anthony John Grech Sant, 55 of Attard were this morning convicted of being accomplices in the bribery of (then) Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and then judge Patrick Vella in July 2002.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli found Mario Camilleri guilty of bribery and sentenced him to four years in jail.

Pierre Camilleri and Anthony Grech Sant were each jailed for three years. All three have appealed.

The court said it had considered the gravity of these crimes and their consequences on the judicial system and the confidence which the people should have in it. The court said it was imposing the maximum sentence available to it at the time when the crime was committed.

The bribery case was discovered by the Security Service through telephone intercepts and involved a judgement by the Criminal Appeals Court on which Chief Justice Arrigo and Mr Justice Vella sat. The court had been considering an appeal by Mario Camilleri from a 16-year jail term imposed for drug trafficking.

The court was told that Mario Camilleri through an intermediary had offered Lm10,000 to Mr Justice Patrick Vella who after initial refusal accepted the offer in return for reducing the jail term by four years. The former Chief Justice was similarly approached and he also accepted to help.

The third judge on the appeals court, Mr Justice Filletti, was never approached.

After the Appeals Court decided the case, Mr Justice Vella phoned asking for the money and was initially given Lm5,000. Another Lm5,000 were given to the Chief Justice.

Judge Patrick Vella was subsequently jailed for two years while Judge Noel Arrigo is on bail awaiting trial.