The Court of Criminal Appeal has jailed a man for three years for trafficking women for prostitution purposes and in doing so, it revoked a judgement handed down by the Court of Magistrates, by way of which the man was cleared of the charges brought against him.

On 9 November last year, 31-year-old James Grima, from Mosta, was cleared of trafficking two Russian women for prostitution purposes, but following an appeal by the Attorney General, Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono found that the Court of Magistrates had not given any reasons in its judgement.

In handing down judgement, Mr Justice Galea Debono noted that it has become a common occurrence for magistrates to hand down judgements without specifying any reasons whatsoever.

Taking into consideration the seriousness of the case, by way of which Grima was charged with making money from prostitution and with running a brothel in Bugibba, the court jailed the man for three years, although the time he spent in preventive custody will be deducted from his jail term.

Police Inspector Louise Calleja prosecuted.