A man who was cleared of trafficking 20kg of cannabis nine years ago was on Tuesday given a three-year conditional discharge for a theft he committed over 10 years ago.

Godfrey Gambin and co-accused Glenn Borg were each conditionally discharged for three years for theft they admitted to carrying out in 2014. Both admitted to stealing tools from a St Paul’s Bay garage in December 2014 and tampering with the licence plates of a motorcycle.

In November 2016 they were each given a three-year conditional discharge after they admitted to the charges. The Attorney General took the case to the Court of Appeal, asking for a harsher punishment. In July 2023 appeal court nullified the magistrate’s judgment on a technicality that revolved around the way the first court had grouped all charges when handing down judgment. The case was sent back to the magistrates’ court.

Now, the magistrates court has handed down the same judgment, this time sectioning off the charges as required.

The court noted that the accused had pleaded guilty and, while they both had a criminal record, time had passed and they had matured.

In 2016 jurors had cleared Gambin of his involvement in smuggling nearly 20kg of cannabis resin.

He had been charged together with Adel Mohammed Babani. The two men were arrested at Xemxija in July 2010 after police had found the cannabis resin in bags which the men were seen flinging out of their car whilst approaching a police roadblock.

Gambin was found guilty of simple possession of cannabis grass and resin and handed a two-year conditional discharge. The defence had raised questions on the handling of the police investigation and argued that the defendants had not been aware of the smuggling operation. The judgment was confirmed on appeal in 2020.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri represented the accused.