A 19-year-old man from Santa Venera was jailed for five months and fined e931.75 (Lm400) after pleading guilty to possessing 135 ecstasy pills on 22 October 2005.

The man, whose name cannot be published on court order, admitted to conspiring to and trafficking in ecstasy pills, possessing ecstasy pills in circumstances denoting that they were not for his personal consumption and possessing cocaine.

In handing down her judgment, Magistrate Miriam Hayman, took into consideration the man’s progress in getting over his drug-related problems, as attested by a probation officer. The youth’s previously clean police record and his early guilty pleas were also taken into consideration, the magistrate said.

Police Inspector Pierre Grech prosecuted while Dr Jason Azzopardi and Dr Kris Busietta were defence counsel.