A court has sentenced a man to two years and nine months in prison after four of his former clients testified against him.
40-year-old Martin Debono, from Hamrun, was found guilty of trafficking heroin, which was further aggravated as he was found to be dealing the drug within the vicinity of a school, youth centre, or social club.
He was also guilty of relapsing and breaking the conditions handed down to him in a sentence given on 9 June 2008.
Debono's previous offences include aggravated theft and the possession of heroin on several occasions, attempted theft and wilful damage, the falsification of documents,
He has previously been granted a conditional discharged (twice), a probationary order (twice), monetary fines, a suspended prison sentence, and an effective prison sentence (three times).
In relation to the aforementioned charges, Debono was arrested on 12 January 2012. Upon a search of his vehicle, police officers found a bag with a brownish dust within them, and they also found in Debono's possession an empty cigarette packet with two pieces of foil that were stained brown.
There were no illicit substances found at Debono's residence after a police search was conducted. Debono would later refuse to answer questions when under interrogation.
A female former drug addict told the court, which was presided over by Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, that she had started using heroin when she was sixteen years old and would continue to do so over the next seven years.
The woman, along with another former client of Debono, said while they were under arrest, on separate occasions, in 2010 that they would purchase heroin from a dealer known as 'Il-Boccu' or 'Il-Bucc', however none of them had ever identified the dealer as Martin Debono.
It was only until March 2012, when a man was arrested after police found him and his friend in car with a sachet containing a brown substance and seven new syringes. The man would tell police that he had purchased the substance from a someone known as 'Il-Boccu', who he later revealed was called Martin Debono.
He would later identify Debono as 'Il-Boccu' in court.
The witness also provided the mobile number of the accused, and through Vodafone's records it was established that Debono and the witness had contacted one another on 17separate occasions throughout May 2011, apart from text messages that were exchanged.
A fourth client would also identify 'il-Boccu' and say that had told a magistrate in 2010 that he had bought from him on three separate occasions prior to his appearance in court.
Debono was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, and was required to pay a fine of €2,750 and €955 in court expenses.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2wkKG8v
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