A Dutch prisoner has been cleared of attacking four prison warders, who are facing charges of violently beating him up after he tried to escape their custody.

The magistrate presiding over Perry Ingomar Toornstra’s case found that the officers’ version of events was not credible.

Mr Toornstra, who is serving a 15-year jail term for drug trafficking, was still jailed for nine months for escaping from the officers on their way back to prison after he was granted prison leave.

However, in her judgment, Magistrate Doreen Clarke highlighted the fact that he ended up with various injuries, including a fractured rib and boot marks on his body, which, a court expert had said, were not compatible with resisting arrest.

On the other hand, the correctional officers, two of who claimed he had attacked them, had slight bruises. One had a bruised toe while the other had bruises on his hand and back.

“It is very hard to believe that the aggressive and violent behaviour of the defendant as described by the correctional officers resulted only in the injuries sustained by (the officers),” Magistrate Clarke said.

Mr Toornstra, 34, had been charged with threatening and assaulting correctional officers Francis Meli, Daniel Cuschieri, Francis Debono and George Falzon on August 9, 2008.

He was also charged with slightly injuring Mr Debono and Mr Meli and escaping from custody.

The inmate denied attacking the officers and claimed they had beaten him up. They have a pending case in which they are pleading not guilty to assaulting him.

An inquiry into Mr Toornstra’s allegations had uncovered “maladministration” in prison as it emerged that prisoner Leli Camilleri, known as Il-Bully, had acted as intermediary to help Mr Toornstra obtain prison leave. This led to the resignation of prison director Sandro Gatt in August 2008.

The accused had been granted prison leave to meet his parents who came to Malta for a short visit. Correctional officers escorted him to meet his relatives for a few hours and then headed back to prison with him.

When the police car pulled up in front of the prison, Mr Toornstra ran off towards Paola square. The officers ran after him and, when they caught up with him, they claimed he acted aggressively and injured two of them.

However, while the accused admitted to escaping, he denied being aggressive and insisted that it was the officers who beat him up.

Mr Toornstra had told The Times in an interview carried out in prison that he had 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, he insisted, 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 two days later.

Mr Toornstra had a fractured rib, bruises and scratches on his forehead, both sides of his face, neck, chest, shoulder, back, armpit and on the knees.

A court expert said the injuries were not compatible with resisted arrest. Given this scenario, the magistrate cleared Mr Toornstra of assaulting and threatening the officers but found him guilty of escaping arrest for which he was jailed for nine months.

Police Inspector Alexander Grech prosecuted.