Accused claims police dictated his statement

The 59-year-old Gozitan farmer standing trial over charges of cultivating more than 19 kilogramme's of cannabis told jurors yesterday the police dictated to him what to say in his statement in order to avoid a heavy punishment.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono heard Paul Muscat, from Nadur, say he was insulted by police officers when they taunted him saying he would never see his family again.

Mr Muscat is pleading not guilty to conspiring to traffic 19 kilogrammes of cannabis, cultivating the plant, dealing in cannabis and being in possession of dried cannabis leaves in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use in December 2003.

Mr Muscat told jurors that Police Superintendent Neil Harrison and Inspector Nezren Grixti had insulted him at the police headquarters.

"Inspector Grixti offended me and told me I would never see my family again... I was only given a piece of bread and my blood pressure tablets having not eaten anything since the day before and when I asked for another piece of bread they told me to buy something from the vending machine," he said.

Under cross-examination, lawyer Lara Lanfranco, representing the Attorney General, asked Mr Muscat how was it that, by chance, a sack full of drugs landed up in his field.

He denied owning the sack. Three witnesses testified they had seen him with it.

When questioned about three tanks containing 19 kilogrammes of drugs, Mr Muscat said he had no knowledge of these drums.

Mr Justice Galea Debono then called Superintendent Harrison and Inspector Grixti to answer to the allegations made by Mr Muscat and they denied them.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Muscat's wife, Maria, said that in December the police had entered their home accompanied by her husband in handcuffs and she was frightened. Shortly after she heard her husband shouting and telling a police constable to stop hitting him.

"The policeman told me I would not see my husband again. I told him I wanted to feed my husband before they left but they refused and told me my husband would not eat that night," she said.

Mrs Muscat added that the police had searched their house from top to bottom and found their savings' box with a few important documents inside.

Mr Muscat's sister, Sr Virginia Muscat, a nun who lives in Nadur, told the jurors she had gone to the field in question very often but never saw anything unusual, "just fruit trees and some wild vegetation".

The trial continues this morning when the judge is expected to conclude the summing up before the jurors retire to deliberate.

Dr Lanfranco, assisted by Nadine Sant, represent the Attorney General prosecuted.

Joe Brincat is defence counsel.