The son of an 85-year-old care home resident recalled on Wednesday how he “turned cold” when he realised that a man caught rummaging through the valuables' drawer of his mother was the nursing manager who had first shown them around the home.

The victim’s son took the witness stand at the first hearing in criminal proceedings against the 37-year-old manager who was granted bail upon arraignment last month and whose name was banned from publication by the court, together with the name of the home where a series of thefts took place.

His mother had entered the home in August 2022 and after a month or so, her family decided to organize a drawer in the allocated room that was to be her home and wherein she could keep her valuables under lock and key.

Around that time, the elderly resident claimed that a gold ring set with a blue stone had gone missing.

At first her children thought that the ring might have been misplaced, “perhaps overlooked in some jacket pocket.”

But in October that year, when his mother returned from a baptism party and left some jewels outside the drawer, she complained that the valuables had disappeared.

That time it was a gold filigree ring that was part of a complete set and a solid gold bracelet.

In April this year, while her son was away from the island for three weeks, his mother insisted that her gold Omega watch and diamond studded cygnet ring had gone missing.

Upon his return, the witness and his two other siblings had helped their mother look for the valuables but all was in vain.

The matter was reported to the home management.

Last summer, the victim slipped and suffered a fractured hip.

She was away in hospital for some six weeks and upon her return, her children gave her a pearl set to keep in her valuables drawer, making sure to photograph the items before entrusting them to their mother.

Filmed on CCTV

Some time in June, her son decided to instal a CCTV camera inside his mum’s room.

That was permitted by the management as long as a sticker flagging the camera’s presence was stuck to the resident’s door.

It was a wide-angle device, with a sensor triggered by any movement inside the room, explained the witness.

On October 25, when he went to call for his mother for an outing, he found the poor lady all flustered and upset.

She was certain that more valuables, which she had locked away safely in her drawer, had disappeared.

Asked about his mother’s state of health, the witness said that although she had slight short-term memory lapses, she was very clear about things she held dearly.

That day, he had calmed her down and accompanied her out of the home.

But while outside, he had checked the footage from the CCTV camera on his phone.

And what he saw made him “turn cold.”

Four clips dated October 24, showed a male figure entering his mother’s room, twice trying to open his mother’s drawer and failing.

But he finally succeeded, opened the drawer and lifted the “flashy” items.

“The items were identifiable. I recognized the person and went cold. He was the one who had shown us around the home,” said the victim’s son.

Earlier footage showed the nursing manager trying to open the same drawer on October 20.

He made another attempt on October 22.

There was another “longish” episode on October 23 when he finally managed to unlock the drawer and spent some minutes browsing through the contents.

“He was obviously planning and that’s why the theft on the following day lasted only a few minutes.”

The home management was informed and the victim’s son together with the home’s managing director turned up at Birkirkara police station on October 26 to file a report.

Eleven items had been taken in all.

Out of those only five were retrieved.

The director also testified today before Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo in the presence of the accused who, the director said, had been a “trusted” employee since November 2020.

She recounted separate episodes which had recently occurred at the home, targeting three residents, including the previous witness’s mother.

The accused worked there five days a week, four weekdays and once at the weekend.

He used to head the nursing team, showed prospective residents around the home, saw to medical paperwork, residents’ hospital appointments, food and maintenance issues and such matters involving the day-to-day running of the home.

Resident claimed gold watch and €20,000 in cash were missing

Trouble began when one resident claimed that her gold watch and some €20,000 in cash had gone missing.

Another couple then reported that some €1000 in cash was missing, while a female resident reported that her watch disappeared in April.

The home management did not hold a copy of the keys to residents’ private rooms and stated in their standard contract that the home’s insurance did not cover valuables possessed by the residents.

Those were to be insured separately by the owners themselves.

Asked by defence lawyer Franco Debono whether the accused had any previous problems at work, the director replied in the negative.

“In fact we were surprised,” she replied.

As the testimonies came to an end, the accused’s lawyer informed the court that his client intended to register an admission to the allegations concerning two of the victims but not in respect of the cash theft.

The lawyer thus urged the prosecution to focus evidence accordingly.

AG lawyer Brandon Bonnici and inspectors Joseph Mercieca, Clayton Camilleri and Joseph Mallia are prosecuting.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel.