Updated 12.52pm with arraignment

A 22-year-old man was on Tuesday accused of murdering his roommate at the Forensic Unit of Mount Carmel Hospital in July.

Jesmond Gatt, 54, was found unconscious in a pool of blood on the floor of the room he shared with two other inmates and died from his injuries days later.

Police inspector Kurt Colombo Zahra told the court during the arraignment that on Sunday he got a call from prison authorities informing him that the accused, Vuk Milic, a Serbian national, spoke to a medical officer and confessed that he was involved in the wilful homicide of Jesmond Gatt. 

Colombo Zahra said he immediately informed the inquiring magistrate. Before being interrogated  Milic was certified by a psychologist to be fit for interrogation and prosecution.

Under questioning Milic confessed that he was the one who murdered Gatt, who died at Mater Dei on August 1, two weeks after the incident, the inspector said.

Defence lawyers Jose Herrera and Alex Scerri Herrera minuted that a person receiving treatment at Mount Carmel should not have been allowed to make such a statement unassisted by a lawyer and they would be contesting the validity of such a declaration.

The defendant, in light blue t-shirt and shorts, stood silently, hands locked behind his back as the magistrate explained his legal rights.

He said that he lived at Msida, “at the moment” and did not work.

He pleaded not guilty.

Inspector Colombo Zahra said that the accused had waived his right to a lawyer “not once but twice.” The defence rebutted that at this stage they were not asking for his statement to be declared inadmissible but would reserve their position to a later stage.  

The defence added that they wanted the court to appoint a psychiatrist to examine the defendant to confirm whether he was of sound mind. Lawyer Alex Scerri Herrera explained that the defence did not know what the “current frame of mind” of the accused was. All they were told was that the accused was under some form of medication. The defence did not exclude the possibility of raising the plea of insanity, which was why it wanted an independent assessment of the accused.

No request for bail was made and the defendant was remanded in custody.

AG lawyers Kaylie Bonett and Darlene Grima prosecuted together with Inspectors Kurt Colombo Zahra and Wayne Camilleri. Lawyers Jose’ Herrera, Alex Scerri Herrera and Matthew Xuereb are defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit appeared for the victim's family.

Victim had been awaiting release on bail

Jesmond Gatt had been detained at Mount Carmel Hospital’s forensic ward and was awaiting release on bail. He was in the process of depositing bail money at the time of the incident leading to his death.

The police had said at the time of Gatt's death that he had suffered major head injuries. 

A magisterial inquiry and a police investigation were launched immediately after the incident on July 13. While the forensic unit is physically located inside the grounds of the psychiatric hospital in Attard, it falls under the remit of the Corradino Correctional Facility.

In July prisons director Chris Siegersma said the Correctional Services Agency was informed that the victim "slipped and hit his head.”

At the time Siegersma defended the decision to allow inmates to share rooms saying that "having mental health issues does not mean you should be isolated from the rest of the patients".

Gatt, from Ħamrun, was charged with arson last April after allegedly setting fire to the main door of a house in the locality while an elderly man was inside.

CCTV footage retrieved by the police allegedly showed him setting the door on fire but the flames went out. He then returned to set it alight again, according to the prosecution.

Gatt had a long criminal record and had served a four-year jail term, according to court records.

He was granted bail on July 9 and was waiting for his family to pay a €500 bail bond.