Cannabis farmer jailed for 18 years

A 59-year-old Gozitan farmer was yesterday jailed for 18 years and fined €45,000 (Lm19,313) after he was found guilty of cultivating 19 kilogrammes of cannabis and trafficking and possessing the drug.

After eight hours of deliberation, jurors returned with a guilty verdict on three of the four charges brought against Paul Muscat, from Nadur. He was unanimously cleared of conspiring to deal in cannabis in December 2003.

Mr Muscat was found guilty by seven votes to two of cultivating cannabis and by eight votes to one each of possession and trafficking in the drug.

The trial was characterised by conflicting evidence, with Mr Muscat claiming he was the victim of police insults and the police giving a very different version of events.

Testifying in court on Tuesday, Mr Muscat claimed that his statement was dictated by officers and that he had no prior knowledge of the three barrels that contained 19 kilogrammes of cannabis that were found in his field. He also accused Police Superintendent Neil Harrison and Police Inspector Nezren Grixti of not allowing him to take his much-needed heart medication.

Also on Tuesday, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, who presided over the trial, asked Mr Muscat's sister, Sr Virginia Muscat whether she had ever seen cannabis plants in her brother's field. She replied saying: "I had gone to the field in question very often but never saw anything unusual, just fruit trees and some wild vegetation".

Before handing down judgement, Mr Justice Galea Debono heard the prosecution and the defence make their pleas on punishment.

Lawyer Lara Lanfranco, representing the Attorney General, asked the court to take into consideration the fact that Mr Muscat had tried to damage the police officers' reputation by saying something untrue and, to a certain extent, had succeeded because his claims were published in the media.

Defence counsel Joseph Brincat asked the judge to consider his client's heart condition and the fact that he had a rather clean police record.