Bugibba bar owners granted bail in drugs case

The owners of a Bugibba bar have been granted bail after being remanded in custody due to the case's verbale not arriving in time from the Gozo courts.

Patrick and Ruth Debono, owners of Smoko Bar, are facing charges of possession and trafficking of cannabis resin and ecstasy pills, respectively, following a raid at their bar on April 12 during which police officers found another two people inside the premises in possession of drugs. The police also searched the couple's residence and on April 23 charged the couple with drug trafficking. The amounts were not established.

In previous sittings the court had turned down a request for bail for because it did not have the evidence in hand to take a decision.

Today, the prosecution informed the Court that the documents had still not arrived from Gozo and that the main witness Nathan Portelli could not testify as he was undergoing a drug rehabilitation programe.

Magistrate Edwina Grima upheld the bail request stating that the accused cannot be kept in custody indefinitely due to administrative issues that had delayed the arrival of documentation from Gozo.

She also held that an application was filed today by Nathan Portelli's lawyers claiming that the witness is currently undergoing a drug rehab programme and cannot leave the programme and attend court.

The accused were also charged with trafficking drugs within a distance of 100 metres from a school or club, permitting smoking in their establishment, allowing underage persons inside the bar and relapsing. The Debonos pleaded not guilty.

The defence asked the court to take into consideration that the commercial outlet owned by the accused has been closed for a number of weeks and the owners are low on finances. The court granted bail to the accused against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €10,000 each.

Inspectors Gabriel Micallef and Joseph Busuttil prosecuted while lawyers Andy Ellul and Vincent Micallef appeared for the defence.