28-year-old convicted of sharing drugs with a girl, 13
She looked like she was dead, mother says after having visited her daughter in hospital
A 28-year-old man has been handed a suspended sentence after he was found guilty of sharing cocaine with a then 13-year-old girl.
Ayrton Bugeja from Floriana was accused of offering cocaine to a 13-year-old girl on June 24, 2016 in Paceville. He was also accused of recidivism.
During the court proceedings Superintendent Hubert Cini testified that on the day of the incident he was asked to go to Mater Dei Hospital at around 11:30am after a girl suspected to have overdosed on cocaine had been admitted. The girl told the police that she was in Paceville with a friend where they met Bugeja, who gave her cocaine.
The girl and her friend left Paceville at about 7am, to the latter’s house in Vittoriosa, where she lost consciousness.
Doctors who saw the girl suspected she had consumed drugs.
Police Superintendent Josric Mifsud questioned Bugeja, who denied offering drugs to the girl but confirmed that he had been with her at a club.
The girl told the court that she had first gone with her friend to Gianpula, then Playground followed by Clique. When asked about the amount of drugs she had consumed, the girl claimed it was about 16 lines of coke. She later clarified that she did not know the exact amount, but enough for her to overdose.
Recounting what happened on the day in 2022, the girl said she was lying on the bed at her friend’s house when she felt unwell. She went outside and felt like someone had pushed her before she lost consciousness.
The girl testified that she never bought drugs for herself but her friend did.
She explained that her friend would invite her to take drugs but she refused.
She went to the toilet with the accused, where they prepared a line of cocaine before snorting it.
Her mother also testified, saying that when she saw her daughter in hospital, she looked like she was “dead”. The girl allegedly told her that she was in Vittoriosa with her friends and someone had laced her drink.
The accused also took the witness stand, saying that day was the first time he met the girl, who was with another girl and a middle-aged man. He denied giving her drugs and insisted that he did not consume drugs. He also testified that he saw the girl and the middle-aged man going in and out of the toilet.
The court observed that it was presented with two contrasting versions: the girl who claimed that she consumed cocaine with the accused, which he had provided and Bugeja’s version wherein he denied the drug claims.
The court held that the girl’s testimony was consistent throughout. It ruled that Bugeja was guilty of trafficking by sharing cocaine. It did not find him guilty of recidivism after the prosecution brought no evidence to substantiate the charge. In its considerations on punishment, the court took into consideration the serious nature of the charge - the provision of cocaine to a 13-year-old.
The amount provided was not determined, except for the fact that it led to the child being admitted in hospital for an overdose. It also considered that the man was arraigned in connection with the case five years after the incident.
The man was jailed for two years suspended for three. He was fined €2,000. Magistrate Giannella Camilleri Busuttil presided. Police Superintendent Hubert Cini prosecuted.