A man who had been fined €465 for making fireworks without a licence was instead given a suspended jail term following an appeal by the Attorney General.

Anthony Caruana had been fined after he was found making and storing the fireworks in a small, rudimentary complex in the countryside, close to the roundabout in the Popeye village area last March.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli had fined Mr Caruana after taking into consideration that the explosives were kept in a rural area far from any residential areas.

This punishment was seen as a mere slap on the wrist by the Attorney General's office, especially after the Naxxar tragedy in March which killed three people when a garage packed with fireworks exploded in the middle of a residential area.

Appealing the decision the Attorney General's Office argued that the sentence was too light in view of the seriousness of the crime.

Mr Justice David Scicluna, sitting in the Criminal Court of Appeal, reversed the sentence and ordered that the case be heard again.

Yesterday, after taking into consideration the seriousness of the crime, Magistrate Saviour Demicoli jailed Mr Caruana for one year and three months suspended for three years.