Wayne Said, 26, from Qormi, was condemned to an effective jail term of 34 months and a fine of €2,700 today after being found guilty of drug possession and trafficking in August last year and over the preceding months.

The court heard that on the day leading to his arrest, Mr Said had been watched by the police as he drove his car and stopped five times. On each of the stops, customers would approach the vehicle and hand what appeared to be banknotes to the accused who, in return, handed over “a small object.”

Upon his arrest, Mr Said was searched by the police and drug sachets, mainly cocaine, were found in his trouser pocket. Several cigarette packets containing cash were also discovered inside the vehicle. Other drugs found in the man's possession included heroin, ecstasy and cannabis.

The court, presided over by magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, while finding the accused guilty upon his own admission, took note of the man's progress in drug rehabilitation when deciding upon the punishment.

Throughout the proceedings, the accused had stayed at the prison even though he had been granted bail. A probation officer following his progress had reported how the young man had worked on various tasks without ever grumbling, even though he was hardly remunerated for his work.

The young inmate’s stint inside the prison kitchen led him to successfully complete a food handling course in the hope of taking over his uncle’s business some day in the future.

While declaring the man guilty, the court condemned him to a jail term of 27 months and a fine of €2,700 over the drug trafficking charges. It also imposed a further jail term of 7 months for a previous conviction in October 2015 which had placed the man under a 3-year probation order.

The accused will also have to pay €5,205 by way of court expenses. The court finally ordered the confiscation of €820 derived from the drug trafficking activity as well as the car used by the accused to carry out such sales.