A woman, who is now 22 years old, was jailed for one year and fined Lm400 after she was found guilty of being in possession of 20.2 grams of heroin when she was still 16 years old.

The Bugibba woman’s name cannot be mentioned by court order since she was still under age when she was caught in possession of the drugs.

The court heard how on 8 June 2001, the woman was caught in possession of 20.2 grams of heroin when she was in the company of Alan Grech, 25 years old at the time, from Bugibba. Although she had tried to get rid of the packet of drugs when they were intercepted by the police in Cirkewwa, the police still found the drugs.

The court heard how the girl said she had purchased such a large quantity because she was given a good price since she was buying in bulk. She said she bought the packet for Lm350. However, the court said it did not believe the girl’s version.

In his judgement, Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said that although according to evidence in court Mr Grech received a number of calls on his mobile from people who wanted to purchase drugs, this was not enough to find him guilty of the charge brought against him, especially since no drugs were found in his possession when the police raided the couple.

Magistrate Quintano cleared Mr Grech of the charges brought against him but jailed the woman for a year and fined her Lm400 for possessing heroin which was found in circumstances denoting it was not for her personal use.

Police Inspector Dennis Theuma prosecuted.