Man jailed for 40 months on 10 charges

Jeffrey Busuttil, 34, of Mqabba, was jailed for 40 months, fined €700 and banned from having a firearms license for five years after leaving the prisons when the court convicted him of ten charges including forgery of money, theft, and drug possession.

On 10 November 2010, the accused was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra when police from the Mobile Squad signalled to him to stop for a spot check. Instead, Busuttil tried to flee but lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a parapet. Another passenger managed to get out of the car and run away. He was never apprehended or identified. Meanwhile the police saw Busuttil drop something over the wall of the parapet.

The officers checked what the item was and found an IAG 7.65mm semi-automatic handgun with six bullets loaded in the magazine. Inside the vehicle the police found grippers, side cutter, Swiss knives, torches, a crash helmet, a pair of gloves, a packet of A4 paper with Euro notes printed on them and bundles of Euro notes. A piece of foil containing brown powder was also found in Busuttil’s pockets.

Investigations revealed the handgun was part of a weapons cache reported stolen from the Gun and Rod Shop in San Gwann in May 2010. The value of the weapon was €165. Court experts confirmed the Eurso note to be counterfeit and the brown powder identified as heroin.

The Court decreed that the prosecution did not prove that Busuttil had himself stolen the firearm and acquitted him of theft. However the accused was found guilty of handling stolen property, keeping an unlicensed firearm, negligent driving, being in possession of theft paraphernalia, drug possession, counterfeiting money and handling forged currency, disobeying police orders and relapsing.

Taking into consideration the accused’s past convictions related to theft and his extensive criminal record, Magistrate Doreen Clarke jailed Busuttil for 40 months and fined him €700. He had his driving license suspended for 6 months, banned from having any type of firearms license for five years and ordered to pay €2139.58 in court expenses.

Inspectors Ian Abdilla and Carlos Cordina prosecuted.