A Gozitan woman was jailed and fined after being found guilty of procuring heroin for a young user who eventually died of a drug overdose in 2011.

Maria Concetta Vella, 56, was arraigned after friends of the victim mentioned her as the person who supplied the youth with drugs, the last time being some three weeks before his lifeless body was discovered at a Fontana residence.

Inside the place were syringes and other drug-related paraphernalia.

The woman denied she had anything to do with the man’s death, claiming that she had never sold drugs and insisting that ever since spending time behind bars, she had kicked the habit.

She said she had warned the youth to steer clear of drugs and she helped him by cooking for him and even occasionally giving him money.

However, two friends of the victim claimed otherwise when testifying at the magisterial inquiry shortly after his death.

One of them said that he too, like the victim, had bought drugs from Vella and her then-partner back in 2009. The victim had also told him that Vella supplied him with a free daily sachet of heroin.

Another friend had recalled how, just three weeks before the overdose, the victim had returned home with two heroin joints.He  had taken them away and hid them in a wall at a Marsalforn car park.

Following his friend’s death, the man led police to the very spot where the joints were had been hidden, retrieving the drug which was subsequently certified as 0.24 grams of heroin of 18.7% purity.

When testifying before the magisterial inquiry, the same witness  explained how his friend “ had been hanging around with Connie from Marsalforn .... I would see [him] lean into Connie’s car, give her money and Connie giving him packets made of foil. I’ve noticed this deal at least twice. I also warned Connie that I would be speaking to the police about all this.”

No drugs were found inside Vella’s car, nor at her home and that of her family.

She was ultimately convicted and condemned to a 4-year jail term, but that conviction was quashed on appeal over a technical irregularity and the records sent back to the Magistrates’ Court for the case to be heard anew.

The court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, observed that the victim’s friends had tried to water down the version originally supplied to the inquiring magistrate, when they had categorically implicated the accused in drug trafficking.

When testifying six years later, they were reluctant and selective in their replies, one of them manifesting a “palpable fear” when testifying in the accused’s presence.

Such an attitude led the court to rely on their earlier version which, together with all other evidence put forward, including Vella’s previous five convictions over similar charges as well as her attitude, proved the prosecution’s case.

Vella appeared to feel “safe in the knowledge” that the youth, who called her “mum” would not give her away, the court remarked, adding that drug trafficking exploited the weakest members of society, especially youths, ruining not just them but also their families.

The court condemned the accused to a 2-year jail term and a €3,000 fine, after taking note of the fact that the charges dated back nine years and that the drug procurement had been clearly and unequivocally proved on just two occasions.