Inmate compensated for belongings stolen from prison

An inmate was compensated €1,500 for valuables that he claimed were stolen from him upon his admission to prison.

Joseph Feilazoo, a Nigerian man currently serving a 12-year sentence for drug trafficking, had filed a judicial protest, claiming that he was not given a receipt after his belongings were taken from him upon his admission to prison.

He claimed that his stolen valuables – including a pair of sunglasses, a pendant, a belt, two rings, three earrings and a bottle of perfume – carried a total value of €3,071.

Prison authorities later admitted to him that some of his items had “gone  missing”, but he was only allowed to file a police report after several months of requesting the prison director

He was later told that some items had gone missing. He was only allowed to file a police report after several months of requests to the prison director.

Feilazoo has filed several complaints of ill-treatment at the prison, and participated in two hunger strikes in June and July 2013 along with other foreign inmates, in protest against prison conditions.

He was subsequently transferred to another division at the Corradino Correctional Facility, but in December 2013 claimed to have been victimised and mistreated after he had complained about prison food.

In his decision, John Bonello, chairing the Small Claims Tribunal, held that it had been proven that the objects that the plaintiff had brought with him into prison are no longer in the custody of the authorities.

The tribunal held that the prisons director must answer for this shortcoming.

However, it was not convinced of Feilazoo’s valuation of his stolen items.

Whilst understanding that the inmate was not in a position to provide documentation to back up the values claimed, the tribunal argued that he hadn’t testified to the quality or the weight of the gold items he had carried into prison.

Taking into consideration the fact that the Tribunal was to decide cases on the basis of equity, it brought the figure down to €1,500. The Director of Prisons was also ordered to bear the costs of the court proceedings.