A man who was found guilty of trafficking and possessing cannabis and who was jailed for one month had his jail term converted to a suspended sentence on appeal.

Stefano Caruana was found guilty of possessing and trafficking cannabis in 1998 and early 1999.

In November 2005, he was jailed for one month and fined Lm25.

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice David Scicluna, heard how Caruana shared a joint with another man and was caught in possession of this joint in a roadblock in Cospicua.

The amount of cannabis found totalled 0.987 grammes. Mr Justice Scicluna said that under the old law, before it was amended, sharing was considered a form of drug trafficking.

However, he said that in view of the circumstances, the court should apply the amendment and consider the crime as drug sharing.

He therefore suspended the one-month jail term for three years rather than an effective jail term.