Two prison officials to be charged over inmate’s attempted suicide

Two prison officials are set to be charged by police over an inmate’s attempted suicide at the correctional facility.

The Minister for Home Affairs Byron Camilleri announced on Wednesday that he had been notified by police that it would be charging to correctional officers by citation before the courts over “crimes of an involuntary nature.”

The charges are in connection with a magisterial inquiry which was opened into an attempted suicide of an inmate on 16 June this year at the Corradino Correctional Facility.

The inmate - a 29-year-old woman - passed away in hospital some weeks later. Prison authorities insisted that she was never on suicide watch and had never expressed the desire to take her own life.

The inquiring magistrate however found shortcomings in the behaviour of the two officers, the ministry said.

The Ministry said that the two officials have been suspended with immediate effect and are also now subject to proceedings before the Commission for Public Service.

The Ministry has also asked the Attorney General for a copy of the procès-verbal of the case.

13 prisoners have died inside Corradino Correctional Facility since 2018 - the year in which the controversial figure Colonel Alex Dalli took over leadership of the facility. The most recent inmate to die was Colin Galea, who also passed away days after a suicide attempt in prison last August.

The incident had led to an inquiry being launched, and a board was set up to evaluate prison procedures. Among other things, the board will scrutinise the procedures at the prison in their assessment of the mental and physical wellbeing of the inmates who would have just entered prison, and study the regulations imposed by the Correctional Services Agency.