Stephen Borg, 37, from Birkirkara, was jailed for six years and fined €8,000 after a court found him guilty of trafficking cocaine.

Mr Borg was accused of trafficking cocaine, being in possession of the drug and committing a crime near a school.

Inspectors Robert Vella and Elton Taliana told the court that in 2009 they were tipped off about unusual activities going on at Mr Borg’s Birkirkara house. Residents were reporting seeing several persons going into and out of the premises at all times of the day.

The police raided Mr Borg’s house where they found drug paraphernalia, including tin foil, pipes and a set of digital scales. Four people were in the house: Lorraine Vella, Natalino Azzopardi, Joseph Camilleri and Chantelle Mallia, who was Mr Borg’s girlfriend.

The police found €3,500 in cash in Ms Vella’s handbag as well as a book with names and numbers. The accused was not present at the time.

Another man, Patrick Borg, told the police when questioned that he bought cocaine from Mr Borg on a regular basis. Two others, Duncan Petroni and Sylvia Stanci also confirmed the drug-related activities at Mr Borg’s house.

When the accused testified in court he insisted that the police had not found him at home during the raid and they had not found any of his fingerprints. He denied that the drug-related objects belonged to him and placed the blame on Lorraine Vella. He said he did not have a cent on him, did not own a car and those who had testified against him were big-time traffickers. He insisted he did not know why these people were found at the Birkirkara property. Mr Borg said they had nothing to do with him. He also claimed that they used to give him drugs because he did not have money to buy.

The accused denied having trafficked drugs from his home. He said Ms Vella used to sell him cocaine for €100 but sometimes gave him the drugs for free.

The court, presided by Magistrate Miriam Hayman, said it was evident that large-scale trafficking was taking place at the house. This had been going on for several years. The court said it did not believe Mr Borg, especially when he said he was poor and depended on the charity of others for obtaining drugs.

He last held a job in 1996 but declared in court that he used to spend sums ranging from €100 to €800 on drugs. He also had six vehicles registered on his name.  Mr Borg was found guilty of the charges and was sentences to six years in jailed and fined €8,000.