A 52-year-old man today was sentenced to two years in jail and fined €2,000 after being found guilty of being in possession of cocaine which was not for his own personal use.

Peter Axiak was arrested on 15 November 2007 after being stopped by police while driving his car. Officers saw him throw out a set of digital scales and later found three bags of cocaine in his car. The bags contained 75 grams of cocaine. Mr Axiak was at the time accompanied by a friend, Jason Caruana.

The accused had told the police that the drugs were for his own personal use. He said he had informed Mr Caruana that he was carrying drugs but the other man did not want any as he had kicked his habit.

Mr Axiaq said he could consume the amount of cocaine found in his possession in four days. The drugs had a street value of some €400.

Court expert Godwin Sammut told the court that 37 doses could be cut from the amount of drugs found in Mr Axiaq’s possession. The average daily dose was 1 to 1.5 grams. The amount carried by the accused was much not normally associated with personal use. Besides, the law stated that anything above 2 grams could not be considered to be for personal use.

There were other inconsistencies in Mr Axiaq’s claims. He had told investigators that he had not yet paid the full amount owed for the cocaine. This was unusual as drugs are not usually paid in this way.

He had also claimed that he needed that amount because he smoked the cocaine using a pipe, wasting some of the product. This version was not believed by the court experts.

The court also said it could not understand why the drugs were split up in three bags and why Mr Axiaq was carrying his full stock when he claimed that he only did drugs at home.

The court, presided by Magistrate Marseann Farrugia, said the prosecution had proved the charges. It noted that the accused was doing all he could to kick the habit and was providing for his family. It said, however, that the accused’s police record had ten previous convictions and the crime committed was of a serious nature and, by law, was punishable by a prison sentence.

The Magistrate jailed Mr Axiaq for two years and fined him €2,000. She also ordered him to pay €202 in court fees.

Assistant Commissioner Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.