Man arrested after health centre disturbance fined for drug possession

A man charged with drug possession with intent to traffic after causing a disturbance at a health centre has been fined after a court found him guilty of lesser charges.

Henry Onwaueabuchi, 30, from Nigeria, had been charged last year with possession of cannabis grass and resin, as well as cocaine, in circumstances which denoted that they were not exclusively for his personal use.

Onwaueabuchi denied the charges. 

The court had heard the prosecuting police inspector explain how the police had been dispatched to Mosta Health Centre on 23 December 2021, after receiving a report about a patient with no identification documents causing havoc.

The patient turned out to be Onwaueabuchi, who was frisked by the police and found to be carrying drugs.

In a judgement handed down on Friday morning, magistrate Elaine Merceica observed that it had been established that the substances Onwaueabuchi had been carrying were 0.18g of cannabis resin, 1.12g of cannabis grass and 1.14g of cocaine. 1.06g of Paracetamol, often used as a cutting agent for cocaine, was also found. During his interrogation, he had told the police that he intended to consume the drugs himself.

It was also noted that despite telling the police that he was currently unemployed, a representative of the hotel he was staying at confirmed that he had paid €450 and €500 to rent a room on a monthly basis.

The Magistrate declared that with regards to the cannabis resin and grass, it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused intended to supply the substances in his possession.

This also applied to the cocaine, which the court noted was present in an amount usually associated with personal use. Although the man’s possession of a common cutting agent did raise suspicion that the cocaine was intended for trafficking, especially in the light of the fact that he was paying a substantial amount of monthly rent whilst unemployed, the court said these circumstances alone did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the drug was not for his personal use.

Onwaueabuchi was instead found guilty of simple possession of cocaine and failing to give his particulars to the police.

The court fined the man a total of €130 and ordered him to pay €311.05 in costs.

Inspector Ryan Vella prosecuted. Lawyer Daniel Attard was defence counsel.