‘Pauper’ Daniel Holmes is no drug baron, defence tells court

The defence counsel of Daniel Holmes told the court how the Briton accused of the trafficking of drugs, ostensibly after a cannabis plant was found at his house, lived in an old, ugly and decrepit apartment, a far cry from the prosecution's claim of living in luxury.

Daniel Alexander Holmes is appealing a jail term of 10 year, six months and a €23,000 fine, after facing five charges of drug possession and trafficking, four of which carried a life sentence, related to the discovery of a cannabis plant in his Gozo home. Holmes admitted to all charges ahead of a trial by jury.

Making his submission in Holmes's long-awaited appeal, Kenneth Grima said the convict was no drug baron, but someone who could not even afford a paltry Lm150 rent that was always paid by his parents, and who still owed his landlord Lm400 in water and electricity bills.

Grima said that Holmes had not even figured in the investigation of his flatmate Barry Lee, who had been shadowed by the police, until they arrested Homes driving Lee's car, where they found him smoking a cannabis joint. Upon his arrest, Holmes led the police to his apartment where cannabis plants were found.

The defence said that no search warrants were presented at the time of the search, which took place only because Holmes led them to the apartment. "Contrary to what was implied in the first judgement, Holmes did not cooperate because he was caught red-handed but out of his own free will."

Grima also said that as had been proven in the compilation of evidence, although Holmes and Lee were associates in the cultivation and possession of cannabis, it was Lee who supplied the equipment.

Court expert Godwin Sammut's report also weighed the plants found in their totality, including the roots and stalks, amounting to 1,063g - but under oath he stated that this was the weight of the leaves alone, which would lead to a street value of €13,800.

Grima also said that since Holmes's conviction, the law had changed so that first-time offenders are not liable to criminal proceedings. But the judge had delivered a prison sentence that was 40% harsher over the eight years requested by the prosecution.

The case, which generated a public outcry over the harsheness of the sentence, led to a public petition. Judges Joseph Zammit McKeon, Abigail Lofaro and David Scicluna, who are presiding over the court of criminal appeal, however told the defence that the petition was irrelevant to the appeal.

Holmes, who spent 14 months under preventive arrest, had managed to kick his habit, found a job as a chef, and was in a stable relationship with a Polish woman who had given him a daughter. "Unless the appeal is upheld, the child will be nearly 10 years when she sees her father again," Grima said. "All this because a habitual drug addict, a victim of circumstance, a sick man in need of help, found help at a late stage and is now being penalised in a way that not even hardened criminals, killers and rapists are not dealt with," Grima argued.

Judges Joseph Zammit McKeon, David Scicluna and Abigail Lofaro are presiding. Dr Maxine Bonnet appeared for the Attorney General while lawyers Kenneth and Christina Grima appeared for Holmes.