A nursing aide condemned to a five-month effective jail term over an alleged ‘act of kindness’ had his punishment converted to a suspended sentence in an unusual twist following an appeal by the Attorney General.
Albert Caruana faced criminal proceedings for misappropriation and theft of medicines and medical equipment used to treat a diabetic patient who had not applied to receive any state benefits.
Following his conviction before a magistrate's court in March 2015, the accused had given notice of appeal. However, no appeal was filed by the lawyer who was representing Mr Caruana at the time. It was only when he received notice of the AG’s appeal – and after seeking the assistance of a different lawyer – that the accused learned that no appeal had been put forward on his behalf.
After delving into various legal issues outlined in the appeal application, the court presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, upheld the AG’s argument that there had existed no ‘special and exceptional reasons’ which merited a punishment below the minimum envisaged by law.
The court observed that this was a truly “pitiful case” where the nursing aide’s intended gesture of kindness placed him on the wrong side of the law. Medicines and other objects used to treat the elderly patient had been discovered in his hospital locker and car, as well as in the patient's home.
The latter had even testified that were it not for Mr Caruana’s twice-monthly care, he would have probably had to have a leg amputated.
However, the court remarked that giving away what rightfully belonged to third parties, in this case the state, could not be termed an act of charity. Rather than resorting to misappropriation, the accused should have guided the patient on ways to get their entitlement through the proper legal channels.
For this reason, the court upheld the appeal, confirming Mr Caruana’s guilt but revoking the punishment from one of effective imprisonment to a two-year sentence suspended for 2 years.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.