Jailed for 5 grammes of cannabis, resisting police

Court: Sudanese jailed for cannabis possession
Article published on 11 November 2011


A 27-year-old Sudanese man, who resides in Sliema, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years and fined €2,000 after pleading guilty to the possession of five grams of cannabis.

Adil Hassan Mohammed, also admitted to assaulting police officers last August after he was found in possession of the drug in Paceville. The police used pepper spray twice to be able to control the man.

He also pleaded guilty to committing the crime within 100 metres from a place where young people meet.

In sentencing Adil Hassan Mohammed, the court took into consideration the aggressive reaction and his failure to cooperate. A total of 5.06 grams of cannabis with a purity of around 4.2% had been found.

According to court expert Mario Mifsud, some 15 to 20 joints can be made from such an amount of the drug.

Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia presided over the court.

Police inspector Jesmond J. Borg prosecuted while Dr José Herrera appeared for the man.

He is expected to appeal from the judgement after he agreed with the prosecution and together they recommended the court to hand a prison term of one-year-and-a-half.

Friday, November 11, 2011 , by Waylon Johnston
Lawyer ‘shocked’ by drug sentence
A Sudanese man was yesterday jailed for three-and-a-half years after he was found carrying five grams of cannabis.
Adil Hassan Mohammed, 27, residing in Sliema, admitted to being in possession of the drug not for his exclusive use, to violently resisting the police and committing the crime in a place frequented by minors. He was also fined €2,000. In the judgement, Magistrate Marseann Farrugia said the cannabis was 4.2 per cent pure and the quantity was enough to make between 15 and 20 joints.
She made no mention of a plea bargain agreement between the defence and the prosecution to recommend a one-year jail term and a fine. The fact that plea bargaining took place between Police Inspector Jesmond Borg and defence counsel Josè Herrera is mentioned in the court proceedings.
Dr Herrera said later that “the judgement is to say the least shocking and diminishes the quality of justice being meted out”.
He said the vast majority of cases were, “thankfully”, dealt with through plea bargaining. “If this were not so, the backlog of criminal cases would explode and instead of 17 magistrates we would need 50”.