A Munxar man who was dragged through the justice system after police found him with under 7g of hashish way back in 2013 has finally been found not guilty.

As Jonathan Roger Portelli’s trial concluded today, the jury delivered an 8-1 not guilty verdict.

The police and Attorney General were convinced that Portelli was a drug trafficker based on the testimony of two of his friends, even though Portelli had denied the allegations and insisted the cannabis was for his personal use.

He was hauled to court and charged with drug trafficking, and his assets have been frozen since 2015, which meant he was only allowed to withdraw €13,000 a year from his own savings.

Portelli was defended in court by lawyers Matthew Xuereb and Alex Scerri Herrera.