A former police officer serving a 16-year jail term for drug trafficking was awarded €1,000 in compensation after a judge found he had not been given the right to remain silent before he was interrogated.

Mr Justice Silvio Meli found that Jean Pierre Abdilla’s human rights had been breached when he was not cautioned prior to his interrogation.

The court also ruled that the Attorney General’s discretion to have Mr Abdilla face a trial by jury instead of appearing before a magistrate and the fact that he was not granted access to a lawyer prior to his interrogation also violated his fundamental human rights.

Mr Abdilla had been found guilty in 2009 of trafficking heroin and being in possession of the drug as well as of protected birds and reptiles. In addition to imprisonment he was also fined €40,000.

In the trial he had also been found guilty of conspiring to traffic heroin but this was repealed on appeal in 2013. Punishment was not changed.

The Attorney General argued that at the time of the crime, Mr Abdilla was a police officer and, therefore, he was aware of the criminal proceedings that would be involved and what releasing a statement during an interrogation actually meant.

Mr Justice Meli, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, ruled that Mr Abdilla had not been granted access to legal aid before interrogation. He had also been denied access to the police file.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Angie Muscat and Amadeus Cachia appeared for Mr Abdilla.