The drug culture within the high prison walls

The recent release of convicted murderer Charles Muscat, known as Il-Pips, after serving 17 years of a 25-year prison sentence, has again drawn unwelcome attention to the administration of the Corradino Correctional Facility, drug-taking and the system of remission.

Mr Muscat’s case goes back to 1994. He had been “bingeing” on cocaine when he shot and killed his drug dealer and fatally wounded an innocent bystander. He now walks free eight years before the end of his sentence, having earned his remission for good behaviour, even though, by his own admission, he had tested positive for drugs several times while in prison and still has a pending case in connection with conspiracy to traffic four kilos of cocaine and a kilo of cannabis.

In an interview given by Mr Muscat to The Sunday Times, he insisted that he had paid his debt to society. He admitted that during his first 10 years in prison he had picked up an addiction to heroin but had then decided to go into rehabilitation and, subsequently, won back any earlier lost remission through good behaviour in the following five years.

Three issues arise.

First, in view of the gravity of the crimes, did Mr Muscat deserve to leave prison with two-thirds remission. The answer is that remission rules are clearly laid down and, according to the acting director of the CCF, Mr Muscat fully complied with them through his good behaviour and his successful drug rehabilitation programme.

Secondly, is the fact that Mr Muscat spent six out of his 17-year sentence at the supposedly “cushy” forensic unit of Mount Carmel Hospital – a secure drug rehabilitation unit attached to the hospital but forming an intrinsic part of the correctional facility – an issue that should have militated against his obtaining remission on his 25-year term?

The answer to this goes to the heart of what this country wants from its justice system. There are those who will argue that the purpose of prison is solely punitive. But the correctional facility, as its name implies, is also to rehabilitate inmates and to prepare them for their return and resettlement in society. Mr Muscat’s treatment in the forensic unit enabled him to kick the drug habit and to turn over a new leaf. Only time will tell how successful this has been.

The third issue that arises is the more serious. Does what has emerged from Mr Muscat’s story indicate that the drug culture in the prison is rife and uncontrolled? Mr Muscat spoke of how prison was “full of drugs”, reporting a situation where drugs are freely available. The CCF acting director strenuously denies that prison is full of drugs but admits that it is impossible to have a prison that is totally drug-free. This last admission runs counter to his assertion that the prison authorities “adopt a zero tolerance approach to drugs”, denying claims they close an eye to the problem.

A comprehensive independent inquiry reported early in 2009 on the administration and operation of the correctional facility and found a large number of serious shortcomings across all fields, including the disturbing drug culture. This latest episode with Mr Muscat makes it amply clear that it would surely be in the public interest to know what progress has been made in implementing the key recommendations of that inquiry, not only in the case of drug abuse but also in all other operational spheres of the prison. A statement to Parliament would not go amiss.