The version of events of what happened on 16 December 2003 evening when the defendant was first under police surveillance before he was arrested and accompanied to his house, was yesterday the bone of contention between the defendant and the police.

Paul Muscat, who is charged with the cultivation, association and trafficking of cannabis, took the witness stand yesterday in his trial by jury and his version of events was different to what the policemen that conducted the investigation had testified on Monday.

To this end, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, ordered a confrontation between the defendant and various policemen involved in his arrest.

Mr Muscat, 59, testified that he was ill treated by the police and denied knowledge of the over 19 kilogrammes of dried cannabis leaves found in his fields and home in Nadur.

The defendant said he drove his motorcycle to his field at Qortin, limits of Qala, in order to pick some vegetables to cook. He denied that he left his house twice and said he took a puppy with him, which as soon as he parked in his field, ran away.

Mr Muscat held that the police forced him to admit to trafficking cannabis in a statement.

Prosecutor Lara Lanfranco from the Office of the Attorney General argued that the defendant did not just give one-word answers but gave several details, to which he answered that he was forced to do so.

He confirmed that the three plastic barrels full of cannabis were found in his land but he did could not explain how they were on his land as they were not his. Mr Justice Galea Debono asked whether it would be possible for anyone to break into his field that was surrounded by cane and closed by a locked door.

Mr Muscat denied carrying a sack full of cannabis leaves and denied that the sack which was found in his field belonged to him.

Police Inspector Nezren Grixti, when asked to confront the defendant, confirmed that he and another policeman arrested the defendant. Mr Muscat stated that there were three policemen.

Inspector Grixti denied insulting and threatening the defendant as well as gratuitously telling Mr Muscat’s wife that she would never see him again, a statement which Mr Muscat said had been made.

The inspector denied forcing the statement out of Mr Muscat on the promise that he would benefit from his admission and denied searching the Wied Bingemma field on 16 December 2003, although he confirmed he just went 10 metres into the field as it was pitch dark and full of mud.

Both the defendant and the inspector confirmed that no police was left to guard the Qortin field and that he saw him carrying a puppy. As Mr Muscat denied knowledge of the box in his house, the sack full of cannabis and the three barrels found in his field the inspector declared that “the defendant is a liar”.

Superintendent Neil Harrison, who stood on guard with the defendant’s house, confirmed that Mr Muscat had left his house twice and before leaving his house on the second time, the defendant only stayed for a quarter of an hour at home.

He denied insulting and threatening Mr Muscat at the Police General Headquarters adding that he had only saw the accused on four occasions; while surveilling him, at the Qala field, at his residence house and at the Police GHQ. He held that he did not even speak to him as Inspector Grixti had questioned the accused.

The defendant testified that while being under custody in his own house, he bumped into a policeman and rushed towards the roof as he was afraid that the policeman would hit him. He said Sergeant Jason Caruana hit him on the face and the chest after he caught up with him on the roof. Sergeant Caruana denied doing so.

Mr Muscat also denied throwing a cardboard box over from his roof onto an adjacent piece of land. Sergeant Caruana, however, said that Mr Muscat threw the box, which later was found to contain cannabis.

Sergeant Caruana said that the box was retrieved after the defendant gave them a ladder in order to gain access over boundary wall dividing the land from the house. Mr Muscat denied doing so.

The defendant’s wife, Mary Muscat, took the witness stand, accusing Inspector Grixti of threatening her, a statement he denied on confrontation.

She declared that her husband and herself had a total income of around e698.81 (Lm300) a month, which came from pensions. She also told the court that the two had around e23,293.73 (Lm10,000) deposited in bank.

Asked by Mr Justice Galea Debono about the e3,494.06 (Lm1,500) cash which were found in their house, she said they were savings as used as backup money for their needs.

Sister Virginia Muscat, the defendant’s sister, said she used to visit Wied Bingemma in November and used to pick up some oranges or lemons and some parsley only. Asked by the judge whether she had any knowledge on how cannabis was made, she replied that she did not know what the plant looked like.

Defense counsel Joe Brincat said the prosecution failed to prove that his client associated himself with other people in order to traffic in cannabis.

He told the panel of jurors that according to the charges, the defendant allegedly cultivated the cannabis plants in his fields at Wied Bingemma. Dr Brincat added that according to the architect who drew up a plan of the site, the grove was packed with citrus trees thus it was materially impossible for his client to grow plants that grow over 10 feet in height.

He held that his client was only accused of possessing cannabis but not of knowingly being in possession of the plant.

Dr Brincat criticised the prosecution for failing to prove whether the leaves and barks found in the defendant’s possession belonged to a female cannabis plant, which contains THC, the substance for which cannabis is consumed as a drug. He held that the plant could be used for a variety of uses, such as making hemp, however, it could not be consumed as a drug if the plant were male.

The defence lawyer substantiated his client’s claims that the barrels were not his by presenting photos that showed that they were completely dry, even though they should have been wet after being exposed to rain.

Dr Lanfranco told the jurors that there was not one single witness that corroborated the accused’s version of events, including those alleged instances of verbal and physical abuse and the circumstances in which the defendant was found in possession of the drug.

Mr Justice Galea Debono started addressing the jury yesterday and is expected to resume today, after which he will send the jury to deliberate.

A verdict is expected to be returned later in the day.