Magistrate jails police officer over violent assault on minor, calls out ‘animalistic behaviour’

A court has found a police officer guilty of violently assaulting a restrained minor during an arrest in Paceville on 5 January 2025.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech sentenced Kurt Jenkins to two months’ detention, condemning his conduct and use of excessive force as a grave abuse of authority.

Jenkins, who has served with the police’s Rapid Intervention Unit since 2018, was on overtime duty in Paceville when the incident happened at around 12:30am.

The court relied heavily on video evidence from multiple police body cameras worn by officers involved in the incident, which captured Jenkins delivering at least three strikes to the handcuffed minor lying on the ground, who repeatedly apologised and requested to call his mother.

The footage also captured Jenkins hurling verbal abuse and dragging the minor along a set of steps, behaviour the court described as that of a “an aggressive man even towards a boy half his size”. The court said his actions were aggressive, bullying, arrogant, and unbecoming of a police officer sworn to uphold the law ethically and with respect for human dignity.

Testimonies highlighted that the minor sustained serious blunt force trauma injuries consistent with the assault shown in the videos. The court praised the use of bodycams, describing them as essential tools for transparency and accountability within the police force.

The judgement strongly criticised Jenkins for abusing the powers entrusted to him as a law enforcement official and for his “animalistic behaviour”. The magistrate noted the damaging impact of such behaviour on the police force's reputation, referring to it as an insult to a corps founded on strict principles and rigorous discipline.

Jenkins was found guilty for causing injury, insulting and threatening conduct, and failure to carry out supervisory duties. The court underscored the aggravating circumstances related to the victim being a minor and referred to legal amendments outlawing corporal punishment and enhancing protection for vulnerable persons under Maltese legislation.

The court ordered a copy of its judgement be sent to the Justice Minister, the attorney general, and the police commissioner as part of procedural follow-up.