The younger son of European Commissioner Helena Dalli, Jean-Marc, has been jailed for three months after he was found guilty of trafficking ecstasy at a party in Paola in 2013.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras put the 25-year-old in prison after he was caught red-handed handing over six ecstasy pills to another man outside a party venue at the old prisons in Corradino in September 2013.  

The case has reignited calls for a swifter justice system.

The court heard how the police stationed outside the party venue saw a group of young people arriving and noticed the accused handing over a bag to another man.

Suspecting drug trafficking was taking place, the police intervened and searched the trio. A man, Dwight Falzon, was found in possession of six blue pills in a paper bag. A woman, who was with Dalli at the time, Gabrielle Tonna, was found in possession of three blue pills. No drugs were found on the accused. 

Magistrate Galea Sciberras gave weight to the testimony of police sergeant Chris Baldacchino who was the officer who had observed the drug trafficking when he was stationed outside the party venue on the night in question. He told the court he observed three youths arriving for the party and witnessed an exchange of a paper bag.

He told the court that one of three, who he later identified as Dalli, was seen holding what appeared to be a bag in his hand and he had seen him passing it to a person next to him, who he identified as Falzon. 

The court said this first-hand experience give the court peace of mind that the six pills found in Falzon’s possession were passed on to him by the accused. The magistrate rubbished an argument by the defence that this was a case of drug sharing since there was no evidence to show that the drug was being shared but had simply been passed on to Falzon in a paper bag. 

During his interrogation, Dalli told the police that he had purchased the six pills for Falzon upon his request and admitted with the police to having bought the pills for €10 each from the same person from whom he usually buys the drug. He said he bought the pills Falzon had requested and had sold them to him for the same price he had bought them. 

Jean-Marc Dalli, 25. Photo: Facebook

In her considerations on punishment, the magistrate noted that that the accused had helped the police with their investigation and had supplied the name of the person from whom he had bought the pills. She also considered that Dalli had a clean criminal record and the amount of drugs involved.

She jailed Dalli for three months and fined him €650. She also ordered him to pay half the court expenses in connection with the case. 

Police inspector Gabriel Micallef prosecuted. 

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola was among those to speak about the lengthy court processes.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," she said. 

"An 18-year-old boy waiting for eight years for judgment before being sentenced to three months in prison is simply too long to have to wait."

She said the same story was repeated "time and time again". The issue was not about guilt or otherwise but the time it takes for justice to be served.

"Our society must push back against criminality, but we cannot allow cases to drag on for years or decades,"she said.

"A system that allows for that to happen while someone could take the opportunity to reform their lives is a broken system. Fix the system."