Former judge Patrick Vella, who was charged with accepting bribes in order to reduce the prison sentence of a convicted drug trafficker in 2002, was jailed for two years yesterday after pleading guilty to the charges brought against him at the beginning of his trial.

Vella, 62, surrounded by his family and friends in a packed courtroom, stood in the dock staring at Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo as he read out the judgement.

If the court had to look at the case objectively, said Mr Justice Caruana Demajo, the court believed that the punishment should be closer to the maximum than the minimum, because of the effect this case had had on the faith the Maltese society had in the justice system.

As Vella stood in the dock for the first time in his life, looking towards a seat he had occupied for several years when presiding over various criminal cases, Mr Justice Caruana Demajo commented that this case had been a “hard blow” to the trust people had in the Law Courts as an institution.

However, he said, the court also had to take into consideration other important facts such as the early guilty plea filed by Vella at the beginning of his trial. He said that Vella’s early guilty plea showed that he had recognised the mistake he had made.

Referring to a judgement handed down by the Constitutional Court, which had ruled that Vella’s fundamental human rights had been breached, Mr Justice Caruana Demajo said that this had no effect on the punishment but would have had an effect on his guilt or otherwise, had he not pleaded guilty.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo said it was true that, because of the extraordinary circumstances, the case had attracted considerable negative publicity, but even this had had no effect on the punishment being handed down.

Vella stood still, with his hand behind his back, as Mr Justice Caruana Demajo jailed him for two years for accepting bribes, committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent and revealing secrets.

He also ordered that the time Vella had spent in preventive custody be deducted from the jail term, but rejected a request that the time he had spent under house arrest – a form of bail while a case is ongoing – also be deducted from the effective jail term.

Mr Justice Caruana Demajo also ordered the confiscation of the money exchanged in connection with this case and recommended that the prison authorities give Vella the psychological and medical assistance he needs.

At a later point, the defence filed an application calling on the court to order that Vella not be detained at the Corradino Correction Facility because of concerns over his security, considering that, when he was a judge, he had jailed inmates who are still serving their sentences. In his reply, the Attorney General said he did not see why Vella should be given preferential treatment.

Handing down his decision, Mr Justice Caruana Demajo said that the prison authorities were in a position, and sufficiently competent, to ensure Vella’s security while he is in jail.

Bill of indictment

According to the bill of indictment read out in court yesterday, Vella accepted a Lm10,000 bribe from a Valletta man, Joseph Zammit, known as Is-Sei, on behalf of Mario Camilleri, who has recently been released from jail after serving time for drug trafficking. Zammit pleaded guilty to bribing the judge and was sentenced to two years in jail.

The bill stated that Zammit, who was approached by Mario Camilleri’s son Pierre, in turn approached Vella and former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo (who still has to be tried for allegedly accepting bribes). The other member of the Court of Appeal – Mr Justice Joseph Filletti – was never approached.

According to the bill, Vella was at first reluctant to accept the bribe but then, a few days before the case was due to be heard, he informed Zammit that he was accepting it.

The bill stated that on 5 July 2002, the Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Vella, Dr Arrigo and Mr Justice Filletti, reduced Camilleri’s prison term from 16 to 12 years. A few hours after the judgement was handed down, Vella called Zammit and asked him from where he could collect the money. Zammit told him that he would give him Lm5,000 and Vella sounded angry but still accepted this. He collected the cash when he met Zammit close to his house in Valletta two hours later.

The bill was divided into three chapters, each of them separate charges: accepting a bribe as a public officer, committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent and revealing official documents or secrets.

When the trial began yesterday morning, at 9am sharp, Vella stood up and said he was pleading guilty to the charges brought against him. After being given five minutes to reconsider his plea – as laid down by law – Vella reiterated that he was pleading guilty to the charges.

Police Commissioner John Rizzo, Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar and Superintendent Pierre Calleja were among the police officers in court for the hearing, but only Mr Calleja, who was later joined by Superintendent Neil Harrison, was present when Vella was sentenced to prison.

A member of the team of lawyers who had represented Vella, Michael Sciriha, told the court that Vella was sorry for what he had done.

Defence witnesses

Dr Elsa Vassallo, Vella’s sister, was the first person to take the witness stand in her brother’s defence. She said that since the case surfaced, she had acted more like a mother to him than a sister. “I supported him not only because I love him but because I felt I needed to be close to him. It was not easy for me, but I wanted to support him as much as I could,” she said as Vella burst into tears.

She said she felt as though he had already been judged and sentenced and also spoke about the effect the case had had on his and her family.

Making Biblical references, Dr Vassallo said: “He was humiliated. Not only him but his wife and children. We felt that the whole population was saying ‘crucify him’ and he carried his cross, fell to the ground several times. He couldn’t even be seen around, not even in a supermarket. Guilty or not guilty, we all felt it. It was a sensational case, several friends gave him the cold shoulder when the issue came to light.”

Dr David Cassar, a consultant psychiatrist, said Vella approached him four years ago with acute depression and a considerable degree of anxiety. He said Vella was anxious because he was “terrified” that if he went to jail, there were people there who could be dangerous to him personally and to his family who would visit him.

Fr Ugolino Scerri, testified that he leads a prayer group which meets once a week. He said Vella started attending the prayer group. “He was humiliated. Even in our group. He was no longer the person who everyone stood up for in court as he entered. He was sidelined like lepers and people with Aids. Although he is guilty, he can still be forgiven and given another chance,” he said.

Legal submissions

In his submissions on punishment, Dr Sciriha said the court should apply article 28A of the law and hand down a suspended jail term to someone who has no police record and who is nearly 63 years old.

He referred to the constitutional judgement that stated Vella’s rights had been breached and said that Vella is worried for his life if he is jailed, because there are people whom he jailed himself, in some cases for life.

“Humiliation is already punishment. He does not go down Republic Street when he comes to Valletta. From being up there, he is now in the dock, which is already bad enough as punishment. Pope John Paul II once said that there is no peace without justice and there is no justice without forgiveness,” he said.

Dr Toni Abela said Vella would be receiving his third punishment for the same offence. The first was the press conference called by the then Prime Minister to inform the country about the investigation. The second, he said, was when the accused was tried by the media. He appealed to the court not to be like Pontius Pilate and crucify someone because people are calling for his crucifixion.

Prosecutor Stephen Tonna Lowell said the bribe was passed on in connection with drug trafficking which is a plague that is affecting society. “Objectively, this case merits the maximum punishment. We absolutely object to the application of article 28A and we also cannot compare Vella to Zammit. The expectations of society for Zammit and a judge are not the same and this has to be taken into consideration.

Dr Stephen Tonna Lowell prosecuted. Dr Michael Sciriha, Dr Toni Abela, Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for the defence.