A nurse accused of beating a 10-year-old disabled patient at Mount Carmel Hospital's Youth Residence last September insisted that the bruises were caused by the boy’s violent rocking in his wheelchair.
The court heard the accused – Brady Bezzina – and other staff at the Young People’s Unit testify that the boy, who has muscular dystrophy, had attempted to bite and run his wheelchair into them.
Mr Bezzina told Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that, on September 7, he started his shift at 7pm when he learnt that a new patient had been admitted.
Walking towards the noises being emitted from the TV room, the accused said he found the boy fighting with staff. He asked the boy to stop and he obeyed – however, he also flung the pill and water to the floor.
We took him out less than 10 minutes later and he started attacking us again, biting and punching us
In contrast to the boy’s version of events – who said he had been thrown to the floor and forced to dry the water with his bed linen – the accused said he had given the boy a fresh pill before he proceeded to mop up the spilt water himself.
The accused confirmed he had indeed let the boy down to the floor, but only after the boy had begun to violently rock himself against the armrests of the wheelchair, risking toppling it over.
“We didn't leave him in the wheelchair because he could fall out of it, and he had, in fact, already done so,” the accused told the court.
“The wheelchair was left outside behind the door of the timeout room. We took him out less than 10 minutes later and he started attacking us again, biting and punching us.”
The boy had also repeatedly hurled insults at the staff, he continued.
“He told us that he was going to report us and get us fired. He said this more than once,” Mr Bezzina told the court.
The child was eventually moved to an empty room in the female section. The accused said that he had asked the boy whether he wanted to be taught how to get into bed alone and had spent 45 minutes teaching him.
The accused was also by the child’s side as he was washed in the bed, helping him to clean his back. This was done because the shower on the ground floor was not accessible for wheelchair users and there were no means by which the boy could reach the first floor where the other patients would wash.
The accused insisted he had not spotted any injuries on the boy.
Parte civile lawyer Andre Borg pointed out that the hospital’s CEO Clifton Grima had himself said that the bruises were not fresh and had been there since before the boy was admitted to hospital.
“As a nurse, my job includes looking out for these types of injuries. There were none,” the accused insisted.
“Although his movements were limited, he could be aggressive with others. He’s a strong boy – he’d hurt you if he tried to punch you, or if he tried to bite, as he did to me.”
Chief nursing officer Marion Saliba told the court that when she clocked in for work on September 8, she had been told that the newly-admitted patient had challenging behaviour, a common occurrence among YPU patients.
In the afternoon, as the children were all gathered before the television set, the boy turned to her and told her: “the nurse hurt me”.
“I told him: ‘Before you tell me anything else, make sure that you tell me the truth. No lies.’”
At that, the boy steered his wheelchair straight into Ms Saliba in an attempt to bite her. Fortunately, she added, another nurse quickly intervened.
She first saw the bruises that same day, when the boy told his mother and was examined by a doctor before he was taken home.
“The bruises were located exactly where he would rock himself against the sides of the wheelchair,” she told the court.
The nurse who intervened, Kris Siegersma, also testified that, as the accused was preparing to return home at 7am, he had overheard the boy asking him whether he could stay for a while longer, to which the accused replied that it was time for him to leave.
Judgment will be delivered on July 5.
Lawyer Maxilene Pace defended the accused. Police inspector Sandra Zammit prosecuted.