Five-year jail term for prison guards who beat Dutch inmate

Four former prison guards were imprisoned for five years after being found guilty of beating up Dutch inmate Perry Ignomar Toornstra, who had to be recovered in hospital spitting blood and with fractured ribs.

Daniel Cuschieri, 27 of Paola and George Falzon, 23, of Qormi were jailed for five years. Francis Debono, 41 of Safi, Francis Meli, 38 of Birzebbugia, who were also convicted of allowing the prisoner to escape due to negligence, were handed a five years and three months jail term.

On Friday 9 August 2008, Perry Ignomar Toornstra was granted prison leave to visit his relatives in a hotel in Qawra. The Dutch inmate was serving a 15-year prison term for drug trafficking. Prison guards Meli and Debono were detailed to escort the inmate, however he was left on the rear passenger seat without handcuffs. Further more the guards used a Mazda without aircondition. During the return trip, at around 7pm, the inmate requested to open the car's window and the two guards accepted. As the car parked outside the Kordin Prisons awaiting for the main door to open, the inmate opened the car door and ran towards Rahal Gdid. The two guards gave chase and at around 8pm they apprehended Toornstra in Triq tal-Borg, Rahal Gdid.

Toornstra told the court that when prison guard Meli caught up with him, he surrendered immediately and was handcuffed. However the two guards pushed him into a side street and assaulted him.

"They punched me in the face and kicked me on my back and in my stomach. When a prison vehicle arrived on-site they dragged me to it by my ear and continued to hit me inside the car." the inmate explained. Once inside the prison grounds, he was again dragged from the car by his ear and four prison guards started hitting him. As he was cuffed the inmate could not defend himself, and the onslaught only stopped after a prison officer ordered the guards to stop.

Toornstra was placed in Cell 7 at the Maximum Security Section - Division 6. He asked the prison nurse for painkillers however she ignored his request. He also complained about being in pain to the night officer and again the following morning, but the prisons doctor only visited him at 9pm on Sunday, two days after he was beaten. The doctor ordered that the Dutch inmate is immediately taken to hospital. Medical tests revealed the inmate had suffered lesions, abrasions, bruising and fractured ribs.

The accused recounted how when Toornstra was apprehended he assaulted the officers and resisted arrest. Even when Meli and Debono managed to handcuff him, he was still violent and five officers found it hard to control the inmate. In the scuffle Debono sprained his ankle while Meli suffered contusions on his hand and his back.

When the inmate entered the prison grounds, the guards alleged he tried to make for the Central Hall.

"Prisoners use every possible excuse to kick up a riot, so we took him to the SRT office until it was decided that he'll be kept in Division 6. He walked to the cell on his own, and the nurse there gave him two panadols. He neither asked for a doctor nor complained he had been beaten," one of the accused held. "After a night of commotion, Toornstra asked to be seen by a doctor, who sent him to hospital. However he returned to prison 24 hours later", the witness said.

Court expert Mario Scerri told the court how Toornstra  was taken to hospital spitting blood and complaining from severe chest pain. "Lesions on his forehead and face were two days old and compatible with scratches and blunt force trauma. The same is applicable to the lesions on his chest, neck and shoulder. Other lesions on the victims back and shoulders were compatible with bookmarks. Furthermore the patient suffered fractured ribs due to trauma coming from the underside of a shoe," Dr Scerri stated.

However these injuries could not be attributed to a person resisting arrest nor to someone even trying to defend himself, the report read. The court expert held that beyond any doubt, extreme force was used against Toornstra after his recapture.

Magistrate Marsanne Farrugia found the four accused guilty as charged. In delivering punishment, the court considered the clean police record of Falzon and Cuschieri and noted that while Meli had been found guilty of a contravention in 1988, the two convictions in Debono's record are nothing serious. Magistrate Farrugia handed Cuschieri and Falzon a five year prison term. While Debono and Meli were handed a jail term of five years three months. The court also ordered the four accused to pay 1271 each in court expenses. If the owed amount is not paid within a year, it will be converted into an additional jail term.

In September 2008 Toornstra was acquitted of assaulting the prison guards but was given an additional nine month jail term for absconding from prison. An inquiry into the case had brought to light maladministration at the prisons which led to the resignation of then prison director Sandro Gatt.

In a letter to the Home Affairs Minister dated January 2011, Toornstra claimed three officers who had witnessed his beating and lied to cover their colleagues were still working in prison. At the time the court case against the four former guards was still ongoing and Toornstra alleged he was being ill treated daily by these three officers. In his letter he informed the minister of his intentions to sue the government for the abusive and disgraceful treatment he was being subjected to in prison.