A woman prosecuted for drug possession was cleared of all criminal liability since the charges hinged upon the statement she had released to the police as a 19-year-old unassisted by a lawyer. 

Malak Lazoumi, 22, landed in hot water in September 2018 when she was arrested during a police road check in Mikiel Anton Vassalli Street, St Julian’s. 

At the time, she had been one of two female passengers in a silver BMW driven by a man.

A search of the vehicle had yielded a bag, tucked away under the driver’s seat, containing a number of sachets filled with white powder, later certified as cocaine, and a number of blue pills, certified as psychotropic drugs. 

The woman was subsequently interrogated and charged with simple possession of cannabis and possession of cocaine and mephedrone. She was further charged with breaching the terms of a conditional discharge. 

The accused’s lawyer challenged the admissibility of the statement the woman had released to the police at the time of her arrest, when 19 years old and without legal assistance, citing previous case law on similar circumstances where the accused was deemed vulnerable.

The court, presided over by magistrate Josette Demicoli, made reference to a judgment delivered by the Court of Criminal Appeal in January in The Police vs Salvu Briffa et which had dealt with the admissibility or otherwise of the accused’s statement.

In that case although the accused had not been assisted by a lawyer when giving his statement, other evidence had been put forward to prove the prosecution’s case. 

This was not so in this case, observed the court, saying that a personal search of the accused had yielded no drugs. No evidence had been put forward to prove the accusations, the sole proof being the statement released without legal assistance and thus inadmissible.

For this reason, the accused was cleared of all criminal liability.

Lawyer David Gatt was defence counsel.