A 52-year-old man has been jailed for two years and fined €2,000 after being found guilty of aggravated possession of cocaine in November 2007. 

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia heard how Peter Axiak was stopped at a roadblock and when he realised he was surrounded by police, he threw a digital weighing scaled out of the window, hoping no one would realise. When he was searched, the police found three plastic sachets containing a substance suspected to be cocaine. 

He told the police he was a drug addict and that the cocaine was for his personal use. When asked about his usual consumption, Mr Axiak said he usually used that amount in four days. Apart from the drugs, he also had €407 in cash. 

The court heard experts testify that the three sachets weighed 7.03 grams, 0.21 grams and 0.23 grams respectively. The usual dose of a drug addict is between one and 1.5 grams a day so the amount Mr Axiak had in his possession was not usually for his exclusive use. The amount was enough for 37 doses. 

The court said it was also inconceivable how the accused was saying that he had purchased the cocaine for €407 as credit was not usually given in drug deals. 

In her decision, the magistrate said Mr Axiak did his best to kick the drug habit and spent a year at a drug rehabilitation programme. 

However, he had 10 previous convictions, five of which over traffic offences, two over aggravated theft, one over an attempted robbery, one over breach of employment laws and one on possession of cannabis. 

She therefore jailed him for two years and fined him €2,000. 

Assistant Commissioner Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.