Four guards to be charged over prisoner beating

Four prison guards are expected to be arraigned this morning for allegedly beating a Dutch prisoner who tried to escape last Saturday.

The prisoner, Perry Ingumar Toornstra, a drug trafficker who has been serving a 15-year term, suffered a broken arm and ribs in what he claims to have been a savage beating that occurred once he was brought back inside the prison walls, sources said.

The incident is likely to have been caught on one of the CCTV cameras in the area where the alleged beating took place.

The man had been granted prison leave for an hour to see his mother, who is currently on the island. He tried to escape from the police van just outside the Corradino Correctional Facility as he was being brought back in.

He only managed to run a small distance to the Paola main square before being apprehended by the guards, who dragged him back inside. It was then, it is alleged, that he was beaten, near the offices of the Special Response Team.

He was taken to a cell in the solitary confinement area immediately afterwards and was only taken to hospital for treatment on Monday, sources said.

By then relatives and friends had filed a formal report with the authorities and, while at Mater Dei Hospital, he also met personnel from the Dutch Embassy and the chairman of the prison board, Ivan Mifsud.

A Magisterial inquiry was launched to investigate the escape but it is now also looking into Mr Toornstra's claims.

Prison sources said the man is recovering and in much better shape than he was on Monday.

The Dutchman was jailed in 2000 over what was then the biggest ecstasy haul in Malta - nearly 4,000 pills. He is expected to be charged for trying to escape but the arraignment is not likely to take place today.

The recently-appointed chairman of the prison board, Dr Mifsud, preferred not to comment on the arraignment when contacted yesterday.