Prison’s inadequate record-keeping led to man’s wrong release, inquiry finds

A prison error caused by inadequate record-keeping at the Corradino Correctional Facility led to the wrong release of a man, an inquiry has concluded.

The man had been denied bail multiple times but prison officials still released him from custody after consulting their files.

An inquiry into the incident carried out by chief justice emeritus Joseph Azzopardi found that the CCF kept a file for every arraignment, rather than every individual.

The man in question had been charged multiple times and was released from prison after he had concluded a jail term imposed by the court. However, the man had meanwhile been charged on another incident and was denied bail repeatedly.

Consequently, he should have never been released from prison.

Azzopardi recommended that the CCF hold one file for every inmate rather than multiple files on the same person linked to different arraignments, to avoid the confusion that led to the man’s erroneous release.

The inquiry was appointed by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri last month after the shocking incident was exposed when a magistrate hearing the man’s domestic violence cases noticed that he was unaccompanied by prison guards despite being supposedly under arrest.

The magistrate ordered his immediate arrest. The man had been denied bail multiple times and was supposed to be an inmate at the CCF.

Opposition justice spokesperson Jason Azzopardi had called for an inquiry and insisted Camilleri should shoulder political responsibility for the error committed by the CCF authorities.

Camilleri yesterday published the conclusions and recommendation made by the inquiry. No indication was given as to whether any disciplinary action will be taken.

The minister ordered the CCF to take on board the judge’s recommendation.

Read the conclusions below: