A man was spared jail yesterday because of a mistake on the charge sheet. Andre Falzon, 22, was charged with being in possession of 57 ecstasy pills during a party in Corradino.

He was arraigned in September 2013, admitted to all charges and was sentenced to three years in jail and fined €1,000.  A week into his prison term, he filed an appeal arguing that he had been accused of committing a crime on 8 and 9 August 2013, whereas the party had been held a month later. He was discharged pending the outcome of the appeal.

In a decision yesterday, the Appeals Court presided by Judge Edwina Grima noted that the man’s guilty plea conflicted with the evidence in the acts of the case, and hence his admission was related to facts which he had not committed, “at least” not on the date indicated on the charge sheet.

The court ruled that it could not close its eyes to this mistake as if it did not exist at all, due to the fact that the conviction reflected facts which were not corroborated.

As a result the court said it had no other way than to annul the sentence, and the convicted man walked free.