A man charged with heroin smuggling has won €6,000 in compensation for a case that has dragged on for 55 sittings over a span of eight years.

Joseph Lebrun, 54, of Marsascala was arraigned in September 2005 and charged with conspiring to deal in seven kilos of heroin and importing and trafficking in the drug on and before June 6, 2005.

In November 2005, the Magistrates’ Court declared there were no sufficient reasons for Mr Lebrun to be indicted and cleared him of all charges. However, the case was reinstated after the Attorney General intervened.

It was referred back to the Magistrates’ Court where it was found that there was in fact enough evidence for him to be placed under a bill of indictment. However, the bill has since not been issued.

In a judgment handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Anthony Ellul noted that over the course of the 55 sittings, only seven witnesses were heard – nothing happened in the rest of the case.

The case, he added, seemed to be built on circumstantial evidence. He could understand that the investigation was complex but that did not mean it was a difficult case. Certainly, there was no proof the case was so complex as to merit so many sittings during which nothing happened for years. The judge said the accused was not to blame for the delays but the defence could have protested at the way time was being wasted instead of taking a passive attitude and only raising the issue after so many years.

Mr Justice Ellul did not accept a request to order the case to be extinguished but said he was instead going to order a monetary compensation.

Besides awarding Mr Lebrun a lump sum of €6,000 he also ordered that the Attorney General pay Mr Lebrun €10 a day until the bill of indictment is issued or a decision is taken for the case to be decided in the Magistrates’ Court.