A man was yesterday sent to jail for 13 years for the attempted murder of a woman whom he had left for dead in a car park after she took a heroin overdose.

The sentence was handed down after a jury found Brooks Lia, 35, of San Ġwann guilty as charged by seven votes to two after six hours of deliberation.

The woman, who cannot be named by court order, was rushed to hospital just seconds from death after she was found by a farmer in a San Ġwann car park on November 2, 2001.

The case was characterised by graphic and disturbing testimony given by ambulance crew and emergency department nurses.

In the pleas on punishment, defence lawyer Anġlu Farrugia asked Mr Justice Galea Debono to take into consideration the fact that the woman had asked Mr Lia to buy the heroin for her, that she had suffered a drug overdose twice before the incident and that Mr Lia has been waiting seven years for his case to be heard.

The main line of defence was that Mr Lia had no intention to kill the victim and had actually called an ambulance to assist her.

Prosecuting lawyer Anthony Barbara told the court that when considering judgment, the fact that Mr Lia had taken his own interests into account, which had almost caused the woman's death, should be reflected upon.

On Tuesday, the jurors were taken to the car park at Ir-Razzett l-Abjad where the woman was found, to get a clearer picture of where she had been dumped. Farmer Alfred Camilleri, who owns the car park, pointed to the spot where the woman was found lying, partly dressed.

A police inspector explained in court how a first anonymous phone call was received at St Luke's Hospital about a person at the car park who had taken an overdose but the ambulance crew found no one there. However, a second call to the emergency department from Mr Camilleri led the ambulance crew to the woman some five hours after the initial call was made.

The woman was described by a doctor who testified as being seconds away from death.

In a statement to the police, Mr Lia had admitted to dumping her at the car park because he panicked, but he went to call an ambulance from a telephone box further down the road. Asked whether he thought she was going to die, he said: "That is why I called for an ambulance, after all it is smack (heroin) not candy."

According to Dr Barbara, this statement clearly showed that Mr Lia had known the state the victim was in and should have taken appropriate steps.

In his summing up, Mr Justice Galea Debono told the jurors that the accused had a legal obligation to remedy the victim's situation when she had begun the initial stages of the overdose, and it was this failure to do so that constituted the crime.

In handing down judgment, he took into consideration the fact that Mr Lia has a voluminous criminal record dating back to 1991. The offences, 19 in all, were made up of five convictions which resulted in a prison term. Another five were committed after 2001, which was "worrying".

Dr Farrugia and Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for Mr Lia.