Drug trafficker Emanuel Camilleri, known as Leli l-Bully, lost his appeal against a 35-year jail term for planting a bomb outside the house of a prominent drugs squad investigator 16 years ago.

Jurors in Mr Camilleri's trial, held in January 2005, had found him guilty of trying to kill now Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar and his family by placing a bomb outside their Żabbar home on May 23, 1994.

He was also found guilty of trafficking in heroin and cocaine but acquitted of seriously injuring Marco Abdilla when he shot him in the leg.

Mr Camilleri had been jailed for 35 years and fined €116,500.

Jurors had heard Mr Cassar testify how, on the night of the incident, he heard an explosion at about 1.35 a.m. Asleep in the house were his wife, their nine-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

He initially thought it was a gas explosion but later realised someone had planted a bomb outside his front door. The bomb left a crater and an expert told the court that bits of metal, found scattered at the site, had been added to the device in order to cause as much damage as possible.

Mr Cassar had been in the vice squad since September 1993, during which time he concluded about 70 cases, some of them dealing with high profile traffickers. Thus, it had been difficult for him to suspect in any one person because he had touched several drug rings through his investigations.

The explosion case remained unsolved until 1998 because no witnesses came forward. Then, on September 23, 1994, Charles Muscat, known as Il-Pips, was being investigated for a double murder in Mosta. While being interrogated, he said that Mr Camilleri had told him he had planted the bomb. But Mr Muscat was not willing to take the witness stand alone, Mr Cassar had said in court.

In June 1998, a certain Marco Abdilla came forward and released a police statement in which he said that, in May 1994, Mr Camilleri had approached him and asked him to plant a bomb in front of Mr Cassar's main door in exchange for cocaine.

Mr Abdilla said he turned down the request and Mr Camilleri later told him he had done the job himself. At the time, Mr Camilleri was a licensed fireworks enthusiast and also worked in a quarry, where he would have had access to explosives.

Mr Abdilla and one Sandro Mifsud testified that they had bought heroin and cocaine from Mr Camilleri.

Following his conviction, Mr Camilleri appealed the decision in the Court of Criminal Appeal presided over by Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano, Mr Justice Joseph Filletti and Mr Justice David Scicluna.

Among other things, he argued that the main witnesses against him were not trustworthy enough to secure a conviction. They had testified against him to benefit from a reduced jail term in cases against them, he insisted.

He also argued that the jurors had wrongly found him guilty and that, in any case, the punishment was excessive.

Moreover, he pointed out that Mr Mifsud, Mr Abdilla and Mr Muscat had given different versions to the police. They had even denied knowing of Mr Camilleri's involvement in the bombing in one of their versions.

However, after evaluating the evidence, the appeal court concluded that the jurors' interpretation of the evidence and facts was legally satisfactory.

Despite the different versions given by the witnesses, there were circumstances that backed up their original accusations against Mr Camilleri. This included the fact he had a knowledge of explosives, since he had a fireworks' licence. Besides, the explosive used in the bomb was of the type used in quarries and Mr Camilleri worked in one.

Mr Camilleri also asked for a reduction in punishment on grounds that he had cooperated with the police and revealed from where he had bought his drugs. This, he argued, had led to the conviction of Hasan Ben Salah, a Moroccan with a Dutch passport, who was jailed for 20 years after admitting to conspiring to deal in cocaine.

However, the court pointed out, Mr Camilleri could only benefit from a reduction in his sentence if he helped the police catch the trafficker. What happened was that the police had got to him independently of Mr Camilleri's help.

Thus, the court turned down Mr Camilleri's appeal and confirmed the original court judgment.