A teenage girl controversially imprisoned for a week after being charged with theft has claimed she was supplied with heroin by another inmate.

The girl, who marked her 16th birthday behind bars, was given drugs during her stay in prison, according to YMCA Homeless chairman Jean Paul Mifsud.

This is the latest twist in a story which sparked controversy after two youngsters – the girl and a 16-year-old boy – were remanded in custody on August 9 when they were charged with stealing an elderly man’s €400 pension.

The two have since been granted bail against a personal guarantee and placed under a curfew. But the girl has now told care workers that she took drugs during her seven-day stay at the Corradino Correctional Facility.

Just after being released from prison and while having her first meal at the YMCA Minors shelter, the girl vomited and displayed signs of drug related symptoms, according to Mr Mifsud.

“She admitted to a social worker that she burnt ‘smack’ and inhaled it the day before she was granted bail,” said Mr Mifsud.

Though she refused to take a urine test, Mr Mifsud said it was “very unlikely” that the girl was admitted to prison under the influence of any drugs. When a social case is admitted into a facility all checks would have to take place to cater for the specific needs of a vulnerable person.

The girl has been under a care order for several years and had a troubled and abusive past when she was referred to YMCA around a year ago.

“Reports about her never mentioned she had a drug problem, although we always had the suspicion that possibly at a younger age she was exposed to a drug environment and was thus referred to Sedqa counselling through a case conference.

“We believe her claims because this girl has always told us the truth in the past. She is a very troubled kid with serious problems which were never addressed. Sending her to prison did nothing more than exacerbate her problems,” Mr Mifsud said.

Last Wednesday, Mr Mifsud asked the prison director to order an inquiry on how drugs were freely available to a minor in prison but so far had not received a response. Appoġġ and the Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato were also informed about the case.

While under the care of YMCA through Appoġġ, the girl has been visited by a psychologist and a psychotherapist. While in prison the two youngsters were visited during the week by social workers as well as the correctional facility’s psycho­logist, but there was no suspicion of any wrongdoing.

“These children have been rejected for way too long. These are the children of the state and they should not fall victim to an overzealous system, which seems to be in place to serve the system and not the vulnerable people,” Mr Mifsud said.

“Are we as a society compounding the abuse these minors have suffered by not offering adequate services in a timely manner? Several professionals strive to give their best, but in several instances related to kids under a care order we are told there are insufficient resources.”

The boy was placed in the Yours section for young people, but since similar facilities do not exist for girls, she was kept with the adult women.

The girl was taken into care following reports about her family background while the boy had asked for help himself, after escaping from a broken home.

The care orders mean the youngsters become the legal responsibility of the state. However, they had been transferred to the care of YMCA, an NGO that provides residential services for children in these situations.
Malta Association of Social Workers chairman Anthea Agius said society should do its utmost to pre-empt such incidents rather than deal with crisis responses.

Imprisoning the adolescent in question was in breach of the spirit and procedures of the Children and Care Orders Act, she said.

“Children under the care and custody of the state should have care reviews at every transition. This girl was vulnerable and at risk and she simply shouldn’t have been put in a place which could act as a trigger,” Ms Agius said.

In the meantime, the Commissioner for Children said on Friday that she was launching an inquiry into the imprisonment of the two children.

Foundation for Welfare Services CEO Sina Bugeja said that care workers did their utmost to help minors who were in ‘out of home’ care.

When the Appoġġ agency receives information that minors could be exposed to danger or other abuse, it probes the allegations with the help of its care providers and works with the competent authorities, such as the police, to carry out the necessary investigations to protect the minors. The Justice Ministry said the prison authorities had referred the claims to the police for investigation and should these claims turn out to be true, the necessary criminal proceedings would be taken.

Questions sent to the prison director remained unanswered.
hgrech@timesofmalta.com

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