An 11-year-old boy matter-of-factly told a court this morning how he regularly beat up his carers and other children at the Fra Diegu Home in Ħamrun.
He said he himself was also beaten up by other carers as well as scratched and bitten by the other children.
The boy, who at the time was under a care order and lived at the home, was testifying in the case against a carer who stands charged with slightly injuring him as well as a 15-year-old girl on September 18.
Asked whether he was happy at Fra Diegu, the boy told Magistrate Josette Demicoli via video conferencing that at first he was sad. However, as time passed, he and two of his siblings, who also lived at the home, were taken out more frequently.
Asked to elaborate on why he initially felt unhappy at the home, the boy replied: "Because I felt sad without mummy".
He recalled that on the day in question, he was playing with the other 15-year-old girl and both were yelling at the top of their lungs. Asked by the accused to quiet down, the boy admitted that this only made them want to further challenge her and their unruly behaviour escalated.
The boy then told the court that the carer insulted his mother using a vulgar expression, prompting him to fling soft toys at her head.
The carer, he continued, phoned his 14-year-old sister who was living in another flatlet within the same home, asking her to come over and try and calm him down. The boy admitted that he grew even more agitated and proceeded to beat up his sister. The pair also aimed punches at the accused and at another carer who was present.
I was so worked up that I started to throw soft toys at her head and I hit her
After their tantrum, the 15-year-old girl and himself fled the flatlet together.
"The carer said: 'You can come back in over my dead body'. I stubbornly defied her and pushed her. I was so worked up that I started to throw soft toys at her head and I hit her. She pushed me and I slammed my back against the wall unit," the boy told the court, later elaborating that he was pushed "forcefully".
He said that, in the meantime, the 15-year-old had continued to punch the carers. The accused then approached the girl, grabbed her by the arm and twisted it to bring her down to the floor, the boy testified.
He then sneaked a mobile phone out of the other carer's handbag and phoned his mother to tell her that he had been struck by the accused. His mother then informed the police.
"They didn't want to believe her," the boy said. He told the court that the 15-year-old girl and himself were taken to the polyclinic, where blood was found in his urine.
Defence lawyer Johan Debono asked the boy whether he had ever written a letter to apologise for lying about the accused. The boy insisted that he had never done so and, upon being presented with the alleged letter, vehemently denied having ever written it.
"I never had this kind of paper available and I write much more neatly. This looks as if it had been scrawled by a chicken," he told the court.
The boy's mother, his 14-year-old sister and the 15-year-old girl who had her arm allegedly twisted by the accused also took the witness stand. Their accounts differed from each other's at many points, with each person giving conflicting evidence of what precisely happened on the day.
The 15-year-old girl looked visibly uncomfortable, and needed heavy prompting by the magistrate to recount what happened in a coherent and articulate manner.
Lawyer Edward Gatt, appearing parte civile for the boy, his sister and his mother, pointed out that - unlike the boy and his sister, who had returned home to their mother - the 15-year-old girl was still presently living at Fra Diegu. The accused still served there, meaning that after testifying against the accused, the girl would still have to see her back at the home.
The girl corroborated the boy's testimony that the pair were being hyperactive and behaving badly.
Asked by Dr Debono whether she had ever entered Fra Diegu's administration office to apologise for making up the story, the teen replied in the affirmative.
Asked to elaborate further, the girl confirmed the incident but said that she had not told the truth by omitting to mention that the other carer - who did not get along well with the accused - had prodded her into throwing a tantrum and being naughty.
The boy's 14-year-old sister also testified that she was called over by the accused after her brother was misbehaving and levelling blows at the carers and at other children. She confirmed that her brother had also turned his fists on her as well.
She said that the accused offended her brother with their mother, but when asked to repeat the words uttered, she said that the accused had said: "Don't beat me up, beat up your mother if you will". She said no vulgar expressions were uttered by the accused.
However, she said that she had seen her brother bump into a cupboard and knock over a knife, leading the accused to think that the boy had dropped it from his hand. At that point, the accused pushed the boy, the girl said. Meanwhile, she also saw the 15-year-old girl turn on the accused and push her. The accused gripped her by the arm and brought her down to the floor.
Asked whether she had been happy at Fra Diegu, the girl said she had not been happy because "it was not my place".
The mother of the 11-year-old boy and the 14-year-old girl, who also cannot be mentioned by court order, told the court that her children had often been beaten up and that they often sported bite marks and bruises.
She said her children had often complained of not being fed enough food, adding it was not the first time she had filed a police report.
She said that her children had been returned to her and they they had been placed under a care order because she was more devoted to her job than to their upbringing. Now she worked less hours and took care of her children, she told the court, adding that social workers often paid them visits and there had been no complaints.
Asked by Dr Debono whether her son had any psychological issues, the mother denied and said that he behaved "normally" like any other child.
The case continues.