A man who has had several past brushes with the law was handed a suspended jail sentence and a general interdiction for 20 years today after being found guilty of having fabricated false evidence and testified falsely under oath.

Darren Debono, 40, from Marsascala, was accused of having committed the perjury when he appeared before the courts on May 5, 2000, October 21 and 22, 2003.

The court heard how Mr Debono had taken a false oath and fabricated false evidence with the intent of implicating a third party in a crime which carried a prison sentence exceeding two years.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia noted that not only had Mr Debono pleaded guilty to all the offences as charged, but the accusations had also been sufficiently proven by the documentary evidence presented in court.

The accusations were certainly serious and would have warranted an effective prison sentence to serve as a deterrent, the court observed. However, bearing in mind all the circumstances of the case, the court concluded that it was not in the best interests of justice to impose an effective jail term.

The court therefore declared the man guilty and handed him a two year jail term suspended for four years. It also imposed a general interdiction upon the accused  for the next 20 years.

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In 2011, Mr Debono had received a prison sentence of two years nine months following a conviction for cocaine possession. Two years later, he was handed another jail term of five years after being found guilty of his involvement in an armed hold-up against the owner of a jewellery store in Attard.

Mr Debono was injured in the attempted hold-up on the HSBC depot and was then shot again during the hold-up on the jeweller in Attard. The HSBC case is still ongoing in court.

Inspector Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.