A man was remanded into psychiatric care after pleading not guilty to an incident of violence at the police lock up, after insisting in court he had been the victim of serious mishandling while under police custody.
Tunisian-born Abdell Raouf Mohfoudi Ali Hassan, 36, was escorted into the courtroom by two armed officers, seated in a wheelchair, handcuffed and with bare feet tied together with cable ties, his shirt blood-stained.
Before the charges had even been considered, defence lawyer Noel Bianco contested the validity of the arrest, pointing out that in his brief consultation with his client, he had claimed to have been brutally beaten at the police lock-up.
“How can an arrested person end up being taken from the lock-up to the ITU?” Dr Bianco questioned, prompting the prosecution to explain that the man had been so aggressive upon his arrival in hospital that he had been sedated on doctors’ orders.
Man taken from police custody to ITU
However, in view of the alleged claim put forward by the defence, magistrate Gabriella Vella appointed a medical expert to examine the arrested man so as to determine the source of the injuries which had landed him at the ITU.
“There are CCTV cameras at the lock-up,” Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee, promptly pointed out, adding that the man had not even been able to recall how he had gone from Qawra, the place where he was first taken into police custody, to the ITU. He had not even allegedly recalled his stay at the lock-up.
Inspector Caruana Lee, together with Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna, explained how last Sunday night the man had been taken to the police headquarters and held for questioning. At one point, he had allegedly begun to bang his head against a cell door, injuring himself in the process.
While being escorted to Mater Dei for medical attention, the man had allegedly kicked one of the police officers in the head, causing him slight injuries.
Noting the man's allegedly aggressive behaviour, doctors at the emergency department had recommended the administration of sedatives and had allegedly referred the patient to the ITU were he could be constantly monitored.
On Friday morning, police officers returned to Mater Dei to escort the man who had just been pronounced fit for discharge.
Yet upon their arrival, they were met with commotion caused by the fact that the man had apparently tried to harm himself inside one of the hospital toilets and it was only the timely intervention of the guard standing on watch that had stopped him in his attempt.
Officers had to resort to their taser gun to restrain the man during Friday morning's violent episode in hospital, Inspector Scicluna further pointed out.
Having been medically certified as fit to face criminal proceedings, the man was accompanied to court where he pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to last Sunday’s alleged violence at the lock-up.
Among the charges were those of attacking or violently resisting a police officer, threatening more than three officers and slightly injuring one of them.
He was additionally charged with breaching earlier bail conditions, breaching public order and uttering foul language.
The man registered a plea of not guilty but no request for bail was made with the court issuing an order for him to be kept at the forensic unit at Mount Carmel hospital on account of the possible risk of self-harm.
“It's not a recommendation this time, but an order,” magistrate Vella stressed.