Man acquitted of supplying cocaine after statement declared inadmissible

● Substance was never tested

A 27-year-old man who was born in Malta, Amor Mouldi, has been acquitted of supplying cocaine after his initial police statement was declared inadmissible due to lack of access to lawyer consultation.

In addition to that, the prosecution never tested the substance found and could not confirm that it was actually cocaine. Back on 24 December 2008, Mouldi and a Maltese man were stopped by police in Paceville and searched. Officers found two sachets of white powder, suspected to be cocaine, on the person of the second man.

The second man told the officers that Mouldi had passed him the cocaine, so both men were arrested. Mouldi delivered a police statement without the assistance of a lawyer, neither beforehand or during, resulting in Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras to declare the statement inadmissible. A law was recently passed requiring lawyer consultations throughout police interrogations.

Mouldi had been formally charged with supplying cocaine and being in possession of cocaine. When it came to the actual court proceedings, the prosecution failed to notify the accused of the court date. The prosecution neither called on the second man to testify in the proceedings.

With relation to the charge of supplying/trafficking cocaine, Mouldi was acquitted due to the inadmissible statement and the prosecution’s failure to test the substance and confirm it is cocaine. With relation to the charge of being in possession, this is time-barred for five years. The court summons for proceedings was filed on 21 April 2014, six years after the accusations are said to have taken place. Therefore, Mouldi has also been acquitted of the second charge. Lawyer Edward Gatt represented the accused.