A court gave a man some time to regulate his position with regard to cash flow yesterday, after hearing that he went to the cinema to watch The Da Vinci Code when he was supposed to be at home under house arrest due to pending criminal proceedings.

The Lm10,000 personal guarantee against which John Grima from St Julian’s was granted bail and placed under house arrest will have to be paid. Otherwise, it will be converted into a prison sentence that amounts to 2,000 days in jail, or approximately five-and-a-half years.

The 61-year-old Mr Grima is currently facing criminal proceedings over the importation of drugs from Holland. Last year, Mr Grima was charged with importing nearly one kilogramme of cocaine and 19 grammes of cannabis on 24 January 2006. The drugs were allegedly found in two candles in a suitcase he was carrying when he was stopped by Customs Department Officers upon his arrival from Holland.

Mr Grima had been granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm10,000 and was ordered not to leave his house without the permission of the court.

His bail was revoked after the prosecution filed an application before the Criminal Court claiming that he had breached his bail conditions on two occasions – 24 May and 17 June last year.

The court heard how, on one of the occasions, Mr Grima had gone to watch The Da Vinci Code at the cinema when he was supposed to be under house arrest. It heard that police officers noticed Mr Grima on footage filmed by the crew of popular TV programme Xarabank, who were interviewing people as they were leaving the cinema after having watched the controversial film.

On 3 November last year, Mr Grima was found guilty of breaching his bail conditions and was re-arrested. Some time later, he filed an application to be granted bail again.

During yesterday’s sitting, magistrate Miriam Hayman upheld this request for bail but imposed stiffer bail conditions, ordering Mr Grima to deposit Lm5,000 and binding him by a personal guarantee of Lm15,000.

Following a request by his lawyer, Dr Joseph Giglio, magistrate Hayman also upheld a request for Mr Grima to be given some time to regulate his position with regard to the Lm10,000 that he now owes the government for breaching the conditions of his bail.

The magistrate also warned Mr Grima that if he were to breach his bail conditions again, he would lose a further Lm20,000 in addition to the Lm10,000 he has already lost for defying the court by going to the cinema.

Police Inspector Norbert Ciappara prosecuted and Dr Joseph Giglio appeared for Mr Grima.