Jailbreak foiled

Prisoners Melchoir Spiteri, 30, and 44-year-old Tunisian Ibrahim Mohsen were caught red handed as they were about to escape from the Corradino Correctional Facilities on Monday night, a prison official said.

Both prisoners are serving time for murder and have succeeded in escaping several times only to be caught and re-incarcerated.

The prison official said that officers from the control room raised the alarm after they noticed somebody on the roof of the prison and the two prisoners were rounded up by members of the Special Response Team before they could make their getaway.

Spiteri, a prisoner since he was 16, is currently serving a 35-year-sentence.

He has escaped from prison five times. Life prisoner Mohsen, who has been at Corradino since 1988, has escaped four times.

The two have been placed and will remain in isolation until a magisterial inquiry is concluded.

Monday's foiled attempt was followed by a disturbance by about 100 prisoners mainly in divisions one and three that resulted in broken furniture and smashed neon tubes.

The tumult was controlled by prison officials.

Disciplinary action will be taken against the prisoners involved depending on the extent of their misdemeanour, the prison official added.