A taxi driver jailed and fined over drug-related charges four years ago, had his punishment reduced on appeal on Wednesday owing to delays in the judicial process not attributable to him, the principle of proportionality and in line with recent legislative views on drug offences.
Kurt Buttigieg, 37, was arrested in November 2011 in Sta Venera after a suspect, well-known to members of the Drug Squad, boarded his taxi, getting off again only a short distance away.
A search of the passenger had yielded negative results. The taxi driver was also searched and a sachet containing a suspicious powder, together with €610 in cash were found inside his underpants.
The powder was later certified as being 0.5 grams of cocaine having a purity of 28%.
Some one and a half metres away from his vehicle, the police came across a bag containing 13 other drug-filled sachets, similar to those found in the man’s possession. A search at the man’s residence had yielded a number of bags, corners snipped off.
Criminal action was instituted and Mr Buttigieg was ultimately found guilty in 2014 of cocaine possession under circumstances denoting that it was not for his personal use. He was also found guilty...
