Man who used nurse to smuggle drugs to jailed brother gets 11 months

A 44-year-old Pieta man has been jailed for 11 months and fined €900 after he was found guilty of using a nurse to send drugs to his brother in prison.

Kevin Zammit was accused of trafficking heroin in December 2009 when a search on prison nurse Jacqueline Dipasquale discovered that she had been carrying heroin, cannabis resin and cannabis leaves.

Under interrogation, the nurse had told all to the police, giving them the names of the person who gave her the drug as well as that of the intended recipient. Dipasquale is currently the subject of separate criminal proceedings.

Although Zammit's lawyers had argued that his first statement was inadmissable as he had not been assisted by a lawyer before releasing it, magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras pointed out that he had been assisted when he had confirmed it in court.

The magistrate also dismissed the argument that Zammit had somehow been entrapped by the use of these statements.

Zammit's first statement had revealed how he would buy the drugs using money sent by his brother and would then pay the nurse €50 to smuggle it into prison, once a week for a two month period.

Although finding the accused guilty, the court reduced his punishment due to his cooperation with the police and a positive report from the man's probation officer, who informed the court that the man's parents, wife and children all depended on him.

Although the accused had not made any financial gain from the trafficking, the court could not ignore the fact that he had been sending a considerable amount of cannabis and heroin into a place intended to reform inmates.

Zammit was jailed for 11 months and ordered to pay a €900 fine.

Inspector Pierre Grech prosecuted.