The police said no allegations had been made against them that a person who had escaped from their headquarters and died after jumping off a wall had been beaten during an interrogation and dumped there.

The police referred to an article published in this morning's MaltaToday and said the inquiring magistrate had heard the testimony of Nicholas Azzopardi, who died three hours later.

Mr Azzopardi’s evidence was given directly to the magistrate with no one else being present.

The police said they had confidence in the magisterial inquiry, now in an advanced stage, and are awaiting its result.