A man was jailed for nine months and fined €700 after being found guilty of cannabis possession and trafficking on a number of occasions in cases going back several years ago.

In the meantime, he reformed and successfully completed his studies with distinction. Edward Demarco, 29, of St Julian’s was found guilty of cannabis possession and trafficking in Paceville nine years ago. Back then, he was an ITS student in hospitality management and successfully concluded the course with a distinction. He then furthered his studies abroad.

Demarco also participated in cross country marathons abroad in aid of charity. In its judgement, the court took into consideration that Demarco had a clean police conduct, that court proceedings had taken long, that he had grown up and did not have any more trouble with the police in the past nine years. In the meantime, he did not waste time and continued his studies successfully. Demarco’s legal representatives will be filing their appeal for the judgement to be reconsidered. The court was presided over by magistrate Lawrence Quintano. Police inspectors Pierre Grech and Nezren Grixti prosecuted.