A young mother has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for heroin trafficking after a court noted previous court sentences which established that while considering the personal circumstances of the accused, the courts had to be mindful that sentencing served as a deterrent and a message to society.

The case against Doreen Bugeja, 31 of Swieqi, started on March 10, 2005, when an off-duty policeman noticed the accused making contact with a certain Daniela Cassar, a woman known to the police, in Qormi.

He called back-up and the police then tailed the accused to Testaferrata Street, Gzira, where she was searched. She struggled with the police during the search, which revealed a bag of brown substance - later confirmed to be drug - in her possession.

She subsequently told the police that she had a drug problem for several years.

The court heard a number of witnesses who confirmed to have bought drugs from the accused over a period of two years.

The court noted the 23-page criminal record of the accused. Between 1993 and 2012 she had 13 convictions related to drugs. In one case she was jailed for four years. In another case she was jailed for 10 months. 

She was also imprisoned on several other occasions and was placed on probation four times. She was also convicted 17 times for loitering for prostitution.

There were various opportunities for reform but she still continued to commit crime, the court observed.

In 2010 the accused started a drug rehabilitation programme at the Santa Maria facility but left after 10 months and returned to prison. 

She later expressed a wish to return to the programme, but that had not been possible because of changes to the structure of the Sedqa agency.

In April 2012 the accused learnt that she was pregnant and returned to the drug rehabilitation programme, where her attitude to reform was a positive one.

However after three weeks she had to return to prison since she was unable to pay a fine. She was helped in parenting skills and arrangements were made so that she could keep her baby with her at Santa Maria once it was born last December.

In considering sentence, the court noted various previous court sentences which observed how the drug problem had spread, destroying many families and leading to an increase in crime. As a result, it was necessary for the courts to severely punish those found guilty of drug trafficking.

The court said that it had also been laid down in previous judgements that while the courts had to consider the circumstances of the accused, including progress that was made since arraignment, in serious cases such as drug trafficking, the elements of justice and deterrence needed to prevail over considerations of rehabilitation  although the court could reduce a jail term after considering the period spend in drug rehabilitation.

In view of these considerations, the court said it was deducting from the jail term the nine months which the accused had spend in drug rehabilitation.

The accused was jailed for three-and-a-half years and fined €1,500.  The court recommended further help for drug rehabilitation.