Man fined €2,300 for buying 3 grammes of cocaine in 2008

31-year-old Anthony Bartolo of Qormi had been arrested after being stopped at an AFM roadblock in 2008. Asked by the police whether he had anything illegal in his car, the man handed over a packet of cigarettes which held the cocaine sachets, containing a total of 3.73 grams of the substance.

He had admitted to the police that the drugs were his and that he had bought them for €70 earlier that same day. He later told the court that he had bought the relatively large amount of the drug because it was being offered to him at a bargain price and that he had hid the drugs in his car to keep his girlfriend and family from discovering his drug habit.

Bartolo was charged with possession with intent to traffic cocaine on the strength of his having informed the interrogating officers that while he had never shared drugs, had someone asked him to, he probably would have shared it with them.

The defence had argued that this statement was inadmissible, due to the fact that it had been made in the absence of his lawyer, but was overruled. Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia held that he was 26 years of age at the time and there was nothing to indicate that he was intimidated during his interrogation. She pointed out that the accused had only complained about the interrogation five years later.

The court however was convinced by his claim to be only a recreational drug user, consuming the cocaine only occasionally and that he had bought the large amount because of the attractive price he had been offered, clearing him of the charge of aggravated possession and instead finding him guilty of the lesser charge of simple possession.

Bartolo was fined €2,300 and ordered to pay for the costs of the case.