A 30-year-old care worker has been acquitted of having beaten up a 78-year-old patient at St Vincent de Paule Home although the court warned that the manner with which he had joked with the patient was inappropriate.

Kevin Mamo had been accused of having slightly injured Gaetano Mifsud, a patient suffering acute dementia and mobility problems. He was also accused of relapsing.

Relatives of the victim had reported that they had found injuries on Mr Mifsud’s neck and face and the administration of the home asked the police to investigate.

Investigations showed that the accused and a nurse had been transferring the patient from a wheelchair to his bed and had touched his face in the area where marks had developed. The nurse said that Mr Mamo used to joke with the patients but he had never, in his presence, hurt anyone.

Mr Mamo himself admitted that he had hit Mr Mifsud on the neck in a joking manner and with no intention of hurting him. The court said there was no doubt that this had caused the marking on the patient’s neck and face.

The court said there was no doubt that this was not the way how to joke with elderly patients, but the action did not have criminal intent and the accused was therefore acquitted.

MAN ADMITS DEFRAUDING 12 PEOPLE

A 27-year-old man from Zejtun this morning admitted to defrauding 12 people by telling them that he had been involved in a traffic accident and needed money to repair his car and to help his father, who, he claimed, had suffered a heart attack.

Patrick Spagnol admitted to having committed the crime between November 2007 and last year, defrauding the people of a total of €2,329.

He was placed on probation for two years.