A nurse who was caught taking pills out of prison last month asked her doctor to prescribe them to her the next day, a court heard yesterday.

Doris Spiteri, 47, from Kalkara, a part-time nurse subcontracted by a private firm to work at Corradino Correctional Facility, was caught on January 18 with the pills in a brown government-issued envelope, Police Inspector Spiridione Zammit said. She is pleading not guilty to theft.

The inspector said the envelope contained ponstan, an anti-inflammatory, klacid and clarem used for infections.

They were found by correctional officer Joan Muscat as Ms Spiteri was leaving the prison and had a total value of €12. The inspector said that the following day Ms Spiteri phoned her doctor, Stephen Spiteri, and asked him to prescribe these medicines for her but omitted to tell him she had been caught with them.

In a police statement, she admitted telling no one that she was going to take the pills.

Taking the witness stand, Ms Muscat said she had been given orders to search the nurses leaving the compound.

She found the pills in a brown envelope in Ms Spiteri’s possession and was told by her superiors not to let her leave.

The case continues.