A man who was caught with eight sachets of cocaine in his car soon after he purchased them has been cleared of aggravated possession after he managed to convince the court that the drug was for his personal use.
Magistrate Marseann Farrugia accepted Anthony Bartolo's explanation that although he was not a heavy user, he had bought cocaine in bulk because he was given a "bargain price".
The 31-year-old from Qormi had been caught with eight sachets of cocaine inside a packet of cigarettes in his car when he was stopped during a roadblock on April 12, 2008. When Mr Bartolo was asked whether he had anything illegal, the defendant replied "yes" and handed over a pack of cigarettes containing eight sachets of cocaine.
During his interrogation, Mr Bartolo said the cocaine was his and that he had purchased them earlier that day for €70 each. He also told police that he had not shared drugs with anyone beforehand but if someone would have asked him for some, he would have given them.
Based on this declaration, the police charged Mr Bartolo with possession with intent to traffic cocaine.
The court heard experts declare that the sachets contained a total of 3.73 grams of cocaine.
Ruling on a defence complaint on the admissibility of Mr Bartolo's statement, Magistrate Farrugia said although the defendant had not experienced police interrogations before, he was 26 years old at the time and there was no evidence to show that he felt intimidated during the interrogation. Moreover, she noted how it was only five years later that he first complained about his police statement.
Magistrate Farrugia heard Mr Bartolo testify that he had left the drugs in the car so that his girlfriend and relatives would not find out that he was abusing drugs. She noted how Mr Bartolo was "a weekend user" and therefore accepted his version that he had bought the entire amount because of the good price.
She therefore cleared him of aggravated possession and fined him €2,300 for the possession of cocaine. She also ordered him to pay €438 in court expenses.