A number of people are expected to be charged in connection with the findings of an inquiry which established there was serious "maladministration" at the prison while it was managed by former director Sandro Gatt.

It is not clear whether Mr Gatt, who is currently serving with the police force after he resigned as prison director in August 2008, will be among those charged but the report highlighted a series of irregularities in connection with the running of the prison which led directly to him.

Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici confirmed that arraignments were imminent, though he could not specify when they were expected. "I am not the investigating officer so I would not know, but I hope in the coming days," he said.

Similarly, he could not name those being charged. The police failed to answer questions sent last week.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici had suggested charges would be brought over the findings of the report last April, but there have been no developments since.

The inquiry into the prison was launched a year ago following a report in The Sunday Times which revealed that Dutch inmate Perry Toornstra - who was at the centre of allegations of abuse by prison guards after an escape attempt in August 2008 - used prisoner Leli Camilleri, known as il-Bully, as an intermediary to help him obtain prison leave.

As a result, Mr Gatt had resigned but denied any wrongdoing.

The inquiry report was never published but a set of administrative recommendations were made by the inquiring board, which included former UK Defence Ministry official Martin Scicluna and psychologist Marianne Agius.

The recommendations dealt directly with Mr Camilleri's position as prison representative, saying this system should be comprehensively reviewed because whoever acts as representative has to behave "within more limited responsibilities".

The report also called for an end to "preferential treatment" on prison leave given to some inmates.

Other inmates and a prison guard had corroborated Mr Toornstra's claims, insisting that il-Bully "runs the show in prison".

Moreover, this version was corroborated by former Prison Board chairman Mario Felice, who resigned over a professional dispute with Mr Gatt three months before this matter came to the fore.

But beyond the preferential treatment of certain prisoners, the report also flags the more serious mismanagement of a main fund through which prisoners pay for day-to-day items at the tuck shop, according to sources.

The fund, made up of money deposited by prisoners and their families, would be used by the management to make purchases.

Asked if the report would be made public after the arraignments, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said he would first want to be certain that its publication would not prejudice the evidence presented in court.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.