Four prison warders were yesterday sentenced to five years in jail for beating up an inmate who tried to escape, leaving him with a broken rib and boot marks on his back.
While the men had the right to use force to arrest a violent prisoner, they were “unfortunately overzealous” and literally squashed Dutchman Perry Toornstra on the floor, Magistrate Marseann Farrugia ruled.
Mr Toornstra said he was beaten by six guards but could only identify the four men accused of his assault – Francis Debono, 43, of Safi, Francis Meli, 41, of Birzebbuġa, Daniel Cuschieri, 29, of Paola and George Falzon, 30, of Qormi.
The incident took place on August 9, 2008. The accused were returning to the Corradino Correctional Facility with Mr Toornstra, who is currently serving a 15-year-jail term for drug smuggling, after he was given escorted prison leave.
He escaped when police car window was opened
When the police car pulled up, Mr Toornstra asked for the windows to be opened. The door had a child-lock but Mr Toornstra was not handcuffed and he opened it from the outside and ran off.
When officers caught up with him, they claimed he acted aggressively and injured two of them.
Mr Toornstra denied being aggressive and insisted that it was the officers who beat him up.
The beating continued inside the Special Response Team office. He was punched and kicked before a guard who was not implicated stopped the men.
Despite telling officers that he was injured, Mr Toornstra was only examined and taken to hospital 24 hours later.
He was acquitted of beating the officers and found guilty only of escaping.
Magistrate Farrugia said the officers had “literally squashed him on the floor as he lay face down, which was definitely not reasonable or proportional but compatible with a beating.”
They literally squashed him on the floor as he lay face down
Forensic pathologist Mario Scerri found a large number of injuries on Mr Toornstra. The worst was a fractured rib caused by a kick and there were boot marks across his back.
He found that the injuries were compatible with a beating and not with violent resistance to arrest. Lawyers for the accused rejected Dr Scerri’s findings and accused him of acting as a “judge and jury”.
Magistrate Farrugia threw out their claim, arguing that Dr Scerri was appointed to check the facts against the allegations.
The defence team also had plenty of time to cross-examine Dr Scerri on his report but they failed to do so, she noted.
She heard that Mr Toornstra was a tall and strong man who would repeatedly get into fights with other inmates. In one incident three officers from riot control found it difficult to control him.
She said that, while many of the injuries were superficial, he had suffered a broken rib, two boot marks on his back and a third on his arm.
Mr Toornstra had alleged he was attacked by six warders but could only identify four. That meant the person who delivered the blow which resulted in the fractured rib could not be identified, she said.
While not the authors of crime, when it came to the serious injury, the men still took an active role which rendered them accomplices.
She also found Mr Debono and Mr Meli responsible for negligently letting the prisoner escape.
She sentenced the two to five years and three months in jail and sentenced Mr Cuschieri and Mr Falzon to five years.