Man acquitted of selling cannabis as substance in question was never tested

The case against a man accused of the possession and trafficking of cannabis has been dismissed after a prosecutorial omission which meant that the substances found in his possession were never tested.

In a judgement handed down on Friday, Briton Matthew Robert Gibson, 39, from Gzira was acquitted of charges relating to the possession and sale of cannabis within 100m of a place habitually frequented by young people, after presiding magistrate Elaine Rizzo ruled that the court could never be morally convinced that the substances found in Gibson’s possession were illegal drugs.

Gibson had been arrested in May 2022 after a police patrol spotted four people acting suspiciously in Spinola Gardens in St Julian’s.

One of the men was observed to pull out a pouch from his bag, before handing something to another member of the group, before receiving a €20 note in return.

When the men were arrested police found several small bags filled with a green substance inside the pouch. A white substance was also found inside a steel container that had been inside the man’s bag.

Gibson was subsequently charged with cannabis possession in circumstances which denoted that it had not been intended solely for his personal use, trafficking cannabis, and doing so within 100 metres of a place where young people habitually met.

At no point during the proceedings against Gibson had the prosecution asked the court to appoint an expert to analyse the substances that had been found in his possession in order to confirm what they were.

In the absence of that crucial piece of evidence, the prosecution could not prove their case beyond reasonable doubt, observed Magistrate Rizzo, who urged the prosecution “to show more attention when prosecuting such cases so as to ensure that crucial and basic evidence such as the one missing, in this case, is not omitted.” 

Gibson was declared not guilty and released.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.