Human trafficker's jail term cut by one year

An appeal court yesterday reduced a human trafficker's jail term to three years from four because the first court incorrectly considered him a relapser.

Peter Borg, 28, had been found guilty, along with another two people - Doris Montebello, 54, and Ferhat Guellouma, 53 - of human trafficking in 2002. Ms Montebello was jailed for four years and Mr Guellouma for five as he was considered to be the mastermind.

One night in October 2002, policemen on patrol became suspicious of a brown van in the vicinity of Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. One of the police officers recognised Mr Borg, who was standing beside the van, but when he called him by his nickname, Mr Borg put his hand in his shirt and the police fired a warning shot.

Mr Borg ran away and the mobile squad eventually arrested him close by. The van's keys were found in his pocket.

In the van, were 25 foreigners: five Tunisians, three Moroccans and 17 Turks, including five women and seven children. When they were interrogated on the following day they revealed the names of the three accused.

In filing an appeal against his conviction, Mr Borg said no evidence was produced to show that he had made any earnings from the operation, yet he was still charged with receiving money to help the foreigners escape from Malta illegally.

Mr Justice David Scicluna, sitting in the Court of Criminal Appeal, said there was enough evidence to prove that he had taken part in the crime and that the foreigners were paying for his "services".

Mr Borg also argued that there was no evidence to prove that he had the intention to traffic in the people found in the van and that, just because they were near the coast, it did not mean they were trying to leave the island illegally.

The court said the foreigners' testimony had proven that they were expecting to be taken to Italy on board a boat and one particular witness, Haddad Marouane, had described Mr Borg as the man who was going to drive the boat.

In reviewing the punishment handed down by the first court, Mr Justice Scicluna noted that Mr Borg was jailed for four years because he was considered a relapser after being given a conditional discharge and fined €46 by another court back in 2000.

However, Mr Justice Scicluna ruled that, in the eyes of the law, a conditional discharge was not considered as being a "conviction", so Mr Borg could not be viewed as a relapser. The jail term was therefore cut by one year.