A convicted drug trafficker has had his punishment reduced on appeal on the grounds that he had not benefited from a lower punishment as envisaged by law owing to an erroneous entry in the records of the case.

Justin Zahra, 30, had been found guilty of trafficking cannabis in 2007. He had also been found guilty of possession of cannabis resin, cocaine and ecstasy.

The accused was condemned to a jail term of 3 years and a fine of €5,000, prompting the man to file an appeal arguing that the punishment was too severe and that the First Court had failed to afford him a reduction of punishment envisaged under the relative legislation.

It transpired that Mr Zahra's counsel had asked the prosecution to declare whether his client benefited from such a reduction in punishment. However, the name of his co-accused had been erroneously written in the records of the case.

The latter was eventually declared guilty of simple ecstasy possession and conditionally discharged for 2 years. But Mr Zahra did not benefit from the reduction.

Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, presiding over the appeal, concluded that the appellant had also been entitled to the reduction in punishment since he had cooperated with the police, enabling them to arrest the person supplying the drugs.

For this reason, the court upheld the appeal and reduced the punishment from 3 years to one year nine months, also slashing the fine from €5,000 to €2,000.

Lawyer Edward Gatt was defence counsel.