Man retracts 'guilty' plea in drugs case
Insists drugs were for his private consumption
A 37-year-old man has been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to possession of cocaine and cannabis in circumstances that denoted it was not for personal use.
Police inspector Darryl Farr told the court that the accused, Lesley Ros, was arrested along with two other men seen acting suspiciously in a car. A quantity of drugs was found.
Two of the suspects released a statement insisting that it was Ros who had the drugs and that they knew nothing about it.
Ros told the police that the drugs were for his consumption.
In court, Ros initially pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and cannabis in circumstances that denoted it was not for personal use.
After the court explained the legal consequences of such a guilty plea, he retracted it, saying that he was only pleading guilty to possession for personal use.
He also pleaded not guilty to committing the offence within 100 metres of a club where youths usually meet, not updating his personal identification documents and breaching a set of bail conditions handed in 2018. At the time Ros was accused of aggravated possession of cannabis after a package with 100 grams of the drug was allegedly found in his car.
On Monday, Ros insisted with regard to the charge of breaching bail that his previous case was “time barred” according to what he had been told at the time because more than five years elapsed.
Legal aid lawyer Ingrid Zammit Young requested bail, to which the prosecution objected.
Prosecutor Julian Scicluna observed that the accused had stopped signing the bail book in February 2022. He also observed that two civilian witnesses still had to testified.
Zammit Young countered that the accused's parents were willing to step in as guarantors if Ros were to be granted bail.
Bail was denied and the accused was remanded in custody.
Magistrate Giannella Camilleri Busuttil presided. AG lawyer Julian Scicluna prosecuted alongside police inspector Darryl Farr. Legal aid lawyer Ingrid Zammit Young assisted the accused.