Jerken Decelis, 31, of Marsa got away with a suspended sentence over one charge but then received a three-year prison sentence over drug charges.

Mr Decelis was found guilty of having in his possession a total 54 ecstasy pills which were not for his personal use. The police had made the discovery after they approached him and spotted him throwing something at the back of a car. This turned out to be a plastic bag containing the pills.

He had told police that he takes as many as seven ecstasy pills at each party he attends. He also admitted that he hadn’t worked for a year and did not receive any social benefits. Mr Decelis denied that he sold ecstasy pills though.

The law states that for one to be charged with possession of ecstasy pills and not be charged with trafficking, one must not have in excess of two ecstasy pills in his possession. The court imprisoned him for three years after it found that the accused had been found guilty in the past of having in his possession cocaine, apart from the fact that he had also been found guilty of trafficking ecstasy. It also found that the amount of ecstasy pills far outnumbered the amount one can claim that they were for his or her personal use.

As for the suspended sentence he received, the court found him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to his former partner involuntarily.