Care worker accused of slapping elderly man 'in vegetative state'

A care worker at a home for the elderly was yesterday charged with slightly injuring an elderly resident when he allegedly slapped him across the face two months ago.

Kevin Mamo, 28, of Zurrieq, who works at St Vincent De Paul, was arraigned under arrest and charged with injuring a 71-year-old man on January 1.

Mr Mamo was also charged with inflicting pain on the elderly resident who was bedridden and not in a state to offer resistance, and committing a crime he was in duty bound to prevent.

Lawyers Ian Farrugia and Franco Galea, for Mr Mamo, contested the legality of their client's arrest. They argued that the alleged incident happened on January 1 and, following investigations, an arrest warrant had been issued against their client on February 12. Yet, he was only arraigned yesterday.

Police Inspector Jesmond Borg, prosecuting, explained that after witnesses indicated Mr Mamo as the person who hit the elderly man, Mr Mamo released a statement admitting to having slapped the man. The elderly man was "in a vegetative state", the officer told the court.

After hearing the submissions made by both sides, Magistrate Giovanni Grixti noted that, although the arrest warrant had been issued on February 12, Mr Mamo was arrested on March 1. This was not because he could not be found but because the police had other work to tend to. This showed there was no urgency in arraigning Mr Mamo. For this reason the magistrate declared his state of arrest as unjustified.

This meant that, since he was no longer under arrest, there was no need for him to be granted bail (which, by nature, is granted to release people from the state of arrest). Mr Mamo will still have to appear in court whenever his case is appointed for hearing.

The elderly resident's name is not being published to protect his privacy.