A man found in possession of drugs and a counterfeit €100 note was given a €90 fine after most of the prosecution’s case fell through because of lack of evidence.

Iakob Nori Khalifa Said, a 42-year old Libyan who lives in Mosta, had been facing serious charges of aggravated drug possession, receiving counterfeit money and breach of bail conditions following an incident at a Paceville club in October 2014.

The man had been spotted inside the club by officers from the Drug Squad during a surprise inspection in the early hours of the morning.

Upon suspicion he might have been in possession of drugs, officers conducted a personal search of the suspect in whose possession they found a wallet containing a ‘very small bag’ of cocaine and three other sachets inside the cover of his mobile phone.

Inside the man’s wallet, the police also found €380 in cash and a fake €100 note.

Another three similar bags were found close to where he was stopped. While admitting that the drug inside the wallet was his, the man had strongly denied possession of the other bags found nearby.

Following the man’s arrest, the police also found out that he had been at the club outside curfew hours imposed upon him under an earlier bail decree.

Criminal action was instituted against Mr Said, who chose to testify explaining how, on the day of the incident, he had headed to Paceville to furnish himself with drugs, which he needed for personal use.

A friend had directed him to the particular club where, upon entering, he had been directed towards one of the security personnel at the bar who gave him two sachets of cocaine for €100.

Recounting the personal search by the police officers, the man explained how he had immediately denied that the bags, found quite a distance away from where he had been standing, were his.

“How could I have flung them away that far?” the suspect had insisted.

He also denied knowledge of the counterfeit €100 note, explaining that it might have ended up in his possession during his time behind bars.

Indeed, just two months before the club incident, he had served his prison term and had walked out of jail with some €3,000 or €4,000 having entered jail with some €7,000 in cash.

“I really don’t know where it [the fake banknote] came from. Someone might have duped me. Everything is possible,” the accused had insisted.

The court, presided over by magistrate Neville Camilleri, observed that there was no doubt that the drug inside the wallet, later certified as being 1.02 grams of cocaine worth €51, had been in the accused’s possession.

However, the same could not be said for the other bags found lying on the floor. Indeed, none of the officers present during the search had noticed the accused throw anything away.

“There was no concrete evidence in the records of the case,” the court observed, adding that for this reason the accused could only be found guilty of simple rather than aggravated possession.

Nor had the prosecution proved that the accused had known of the counterfeit banknote in his wallet, the court observed.

As for the charges relating to breach of bail, Magistrate Camilleri observed that the prosecuting officer involved in the other proceedings, where bail had allegedly been granted to the accused, had never been summoned to confirm the identity of the accused.

The name of the person granted bail ‘was not identical’ to that of the accused and no particulars had been supplied to confirm the match. Moreover, the prosecution had not proved that criminal proceedings had still been ongoing when the accused committed the breach.

In the light of all this, the court declared the man guilty of simple possession, fining him €90, and cleared him of the other charges. The court also ordered him to pay court expert expenses totaling €258. It ordered the destruction of the drug and the handing over of the counterfeit money to the Central Bank.

Lawyer Alfred Abela was defence counsel.