Court hears how heavy ketamine use left accused unable to walk

The accused had admitted to using drugs, mainly ketamine but also mephedrone and ecstasy on occasion but denied ever dealing in drugs

A court has heard a British DJ describe how his voracious drug habit wrecked his health, leaving him unable to walk. 

David Lee Rogers, 41, who had been in Malta since 2009, was handed a suspended sentence and fined after a court found him guilty of drug possession but cleared him of trafficking charges.

Rogers had been arrested in December 2011 and charged with being in possession of mephedrone and ketamine in circumstances which denote that it was not for his personal use.

Police told the court that drugs mephedrone, ketamine, cannabis seeds as well as the uncontrolled but highly dangerous party drug GBL had been found on the person of the accused and in his bedside table. Drug paraphernalia had also been found in his apartment.

The accused had admitted to using drugs, mainly ketamine but also mephedrone and ecstasy on occasion but denied ever dealing in drugs, saying that his mephedrone supplier in the UK would post the drugs to him after he sent the money on account.

He had moved to Malta from London because his drug problems had become acute and his body was failing. He was medically certified as suffering from “ketamine uropathy,” a condition that caused enlargement of the gall bladder, rendering him unable to walk and causing him to pass blood in his urine.

He testified that he was using fifteen doses per day and explained that he had initially started taking recreational drugs for fun, but that this daily usage had increased his tolerance and that as a result, he had increased his dose to get high.

Due to the easy accessibility of the drug in the UK, he decided to sell his home and business and come to Malta. However he relapsed shortly after his arrival on the island.

Eventually he stopped using ketamine after he saw the damage it was inflicting on his body and switched to mephedrone.

Rogers had been found in possession of 175 grams of this substance. He explained that he was buying in bulk because he was a heavy user, consuming up to eleven grams daily. 

Magistrate Miriam Hayman noted the accused’s admission of possession for heavy personal use and held that the accusations of trafficking had not been sufficiently proven. Rogers was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. In addition, the magistrate imposed a fine of €1000 and ordered that he also pay the €2274 in court costs.

Lawyer Roberto Montaldo defended Rogers. Police Inspector Malcolm Bondin prosecuted.