Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri is defending another prison director, again. The last time Camilleri pigheadedly defended Alex Dalli against the flood of concerns raised about his behaviour and tactics, he was forced into a humiliating U-turn.
Sadly, Camilleri acted too late – several lives were lost. Repeatedly he was told Dalli’s aggressive, hostile and violent treatment of inmates was putting the lives of those inmates at risk. He ignored them, time and time again. And inmates died while Byron fiddled.
Now he’s doing the same. Prison director Robert Brincau is charged with causing slight bodily harm, threatening a man with a weapon, insulting and threatening the man, carrying an unlicensed firearm in public, being armed during the commission of an offence and breaching the peace.
“I will kill you and your family,” Brincau is heard screaming at an ambulance driver in a recorded video of the incident. A newly qualified nurse treating a patient inside the ambulance started recording the incident using the ambulance’s mobile phone after Brincau allegedly head-butted the ambulance driver.
The driver retaliated by punching Brincau, who then allegedly pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the driver’s head. The nurse testified in court that when he saw her filming, Brincau popped his head into the ambulance and threatened her: “I saw you filming me.” She froze. “I was terrified,” she explained to the court.
Three different people – the ambulance driver, the nurse and the patient – all testified Brincau was carrying a gun.
But Brincau doesn’t have any firearms registered in his name. That firearm, presented in court along with a black holster and 10 bullets (9mm ), was registered at Corradino Correctional Facility, not to Brincau. He allegedly took the weapon from Corradino, his place of work, and allegedly used it to threaten an ambulance driver and intimidate a newly qualified nurse and a patient being treated in that ambulance.
But Camilleri, in his typical robotic style, keeps defending Brincau. “The alleged incident did not occur at the place of work,” he commented. That’s right, it didn’t. But a dangerous weapon registered at Corradino Correctional Facility was allegedly taken out of prison by the prison director and used to commit the crime Brincau is charged with.
It is the court’s responsibility to make the legal judgement. But it’s up to the minister to make the political judgement- Kevin Cassar
Camilleri is coming up with all sorts of excuses. “There is a clear conflict between the different versions of events so it is the court that will decide which version is correct,” he rebutted. It is the court’s responsibility to make the legal judgement. But it’s up to the minister to make the political judgement.
For the police to charge Brincau they must have robust evidence that the crimes allegedly Brincau committed can be proven. And they are right. The police have a recording of at least one part of the incident, where Brincau appears to be heard shouting: “I will kill you and your family.” Yet, Brincau claimed that “there was no dispute or altercation – I talked to the persons involved to calm down tempers and, in fact, the situation calmed down”.
If the prison director calms down tempers by screaming “I will kill you and your family” while pointing a gun at someone’s head, those are hardly the attributes expected of the director of a correctional facility.
Three different individuals testified under oath that Brincau headbutted the ambulance driver and that he was carrying a gun. Yet, Byron continues to insist “there is a clear conflict between different versions of events”.
His spokesperson said “the case arose because of an alleged personal incident and was not related to Brincau’s official duties in his official capacity”. But he was carrying a gun registered to CCF. He is charged with using it to threaten the ambulance driver.
“There is no statutory provision which imposes mandatory suspension from employment whenever judicial proceedings commence,” the minister’s spokesperson added.
Camilleri’s ineptitude and defective judgement were in full display when he came up with the most ridiculous excuse for keeping his prison director: “we cannot have a vacuum in the prison leadership.”
In other words, Camilleri is not interested in the crimes Brincau allegedly committed. He’s not fussed that the prison director allegedly took a prison weapon out with him for the day to Għadira or that he flippantly carried it around tucked in the back of his bermuda shorts as he strutted around like some Sergio Leone Western movie villain.
Camilleri couldn’t be bothered suspending him because it would be too much trouble finding somebody else to replace Brincau. The only vacuum there is lies between the minister’s ears. In his position as prison director, Brincau has enormous power over extremely vulnerable individuals. His alleged actions raise terrifying concerns about Brincau’s judgement, his emotional stability, his professionalism, his attitude and so much else.
His very fitness for the role is in serious doubt. Yet, Camilleri obstinately refuses to suspend him in order to protect inmates, subordinates and himself until court proceedings are concluded. Why? Because Camilleri can’t think of somebody to replace him.
Byron has learnt nothing. His responsibility in the deaths of inmates stemming from his refusal to remove Dalli doesn’t weigh him down. He continues to plod on, oblivious of the potential damage of his inaction despite his recent experience.
And to live up to his Labour credentials, Camilleri couldn’t miss the opportunity to insult journalists. “I saw the reports in the media and some were more sensational than others,” he commented in a pathetic attempt to defend his warped decision to keep Brincau. What was sensational in the media reports?
“Oh my God,” exclaimed the patient, being treated in the ambulance, who witnessed Brincau’s head-butting and the “dark grey” weapon jutting out of the back of his shorts as he walked away. “Oh my God” indeed. For Camilleri, on the other hand, it’s no big deal ‒ it didn’t happen at Brincau’s place of work, so it’s OK. And we can’t have a vacuum now, can we?
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.