A woman was cleared of drug possession after the court decreed that the prosecution had failed to prove that a small packet of heroin found in her apartment was actually hers.

The incident occurred eight years ago when WPS Marisa Bartolo testified that she had caught 54-year-old Phillippa Elsallak in her bedroom holding a packet of heroin.

Her husband, Libyan national Faiz Omar, had told the police that his wife never knew about his drug problems because he used to take the drugs in secret.

Ms Elsallak insisted that the drugs were not hers and that she had never seen her husband taking the substance.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano ruled that the evidence indicated that the accused knew about the drugs in her home. However, her statement was deemed to be reliable and believable. The prosecution, the court found, did not prove that the drugs were hers.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Charmaine Cherrett were defence counsel.