Two self-confessed heavy drug users who were jailed and fined by a Magistrates’ Court two years ago had their punishment reduced on appeal on account of unnecessary delays in the proceedings for which they were not to blame.

Ivan Bajada, 41, from Msida and Clare Borg, 37, from Gzira had been tried after they were found in possession of heroin which was not for their personal use. The man had also been charged with breaching a probation order, while his partner was separately charged as a relapser.

The Magistrates’ Court had condemned the man to a three-year effective jail term and a fine of €2,000, while the woman was handed a four-year jail term and a fine of €3,000.

During appeal proceedings, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, after a reappraisal of the merits of the case observed that while the conviction was to stand, the particular delay in the proceedings warranted a reduction in the punishment meted out by the first court.

The couple had been arraigned in 2003 following their arrest after having been discovered in possession of 10 sachets of heroin totalling some 17.471g. The police had raided their room at a Gżira hotel after an anonymous tip-off. Besides the drug, various items related to drug abuse had been found in the raid.

Although criminal proceedings against the couple kicked off in 2003, it was only 12 years later that a judgment was finally delivered by the first court, presided over by Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia, who had been assigned the case in 2011.

The court of appeal noted that there had been “a useless delay” of three years for the mere delivery of the sentence. There had also been an unnecessary delay between the appellants’ arrest and their arraignment in court. Such delays were certainly not attributable to the accused, the court remarked.

For this reason, the court confirmed the conviction but reduced the man’s jail term from three years to one year, fining him €1,000 instead of €2,000. The woman was condemned to a jail term of 14 months instead of the original four years and fine €2,000 instead of the original €3,000.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha were defence counsel.