Nightclub drug dealer gets 22 months in prison

A man from Tarxien has been jailed for 22 months and fined €2,000 for possession of a number of drugs near a popular nightclub.

During the arraignment in August, inspector Jonathan Cassar had explained how 20-year-old Slava Baldacchino from Tarxien, was arrested by police acting on information that he had been trafficking drugs at Numero Uno.



Baldacchino, who was on bail for unrelated charges at the time, was supposed to be at home at 8:30pm, but was found at the club at 3:00am.

Police who stopped the accused had found 17 ecstasy pills, cocaine and yellow powders suspected to be mephedrone and powdered ecstasy in his underpants. 

A subsequent search of his home recovered another 10 sachets of powder, which he claimed to be baking powder, alleging that he had been duped into buying them thinking they were cocaine. He had told officers that he was planning to sell them as cocaine, the court was told.



Baldacchino, who told the court he was unemployed, was charged with possession of cannabis, mephedrone, ecstasy and cocaine, the latter two in circumstances that led police to suspect that they were not for his personal consumption. He was also accused of being in possession of the illicit substances at a place frequented by youths, committing a crime during the operative period of a suspended sentence, breaching a probation order and bail conditions which he had been handed by three different courts.

Despite it being alleged that yellow powder recovered from the man's possession was part ecstasy and part mephedrone, tests on the powder had proved negative for both substances. The court therefore found him not guilty of charges relating to this particular powder. Neither had it been proven that the accused had been in possession of mephedrone in the preceding months, as stated in the charges. “And although in his statement, he says that the used to sell drugs in the past, he doesn't say what drugs he would sell,” the court pointed out.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras noted, however, that he had been found in possession of 17 ecstasy pills, which amount was “not insignificant” and approximately 21 sachets of cocaine, weighing a total of 7.43 grammes. The charges were aggravated by distance from a place where young people gather and therefore the punishment for this had to be increased by one grade.

She noted a social inquiry report that explained the “pitiful” upbringing and the part this played in his criminal lifestyle choices. Despite professional help, the accused had made little progress in accepting responsibility for what he had done, said told the court. The amount of money on his person and a number of messages recovered from his mobile phone left the court in no doubt that he had been trafficking drugs.

Finding him guilty of being in possession of ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis near a popular entertainment venue, the court sentenced Baldachino to 22 months in prison and fined him €2,000.

The court requested the director of prisons to ensure that the man was treated for his addiction and psychological problems.