A carer who punched a 78-year-old partially paralysed patient at St Vincent de Paul Hospital two years ago, was given a five-year jail term for his “shocking, inhuman and cruel” handling of the vulnerable victim. 

Charlton Spiteri, the 27-year-old carer with an otherwise untainted criminal record, landed himself at the centre of criminal investigations kicking off after the incident, which took place on August 5, 2018, inside Fatima Ward 3.

It was just after 1pm when the accused, on duty alongside a fellow carer, spotted the elderly male patient attempting to slide out of his bed. 

Spiteri had shouted out to the elderly patient, telling him that he would be allowed out of his bed later in the afternoon.

When giving his version to the police, Spiteri had recalled having asked his colleague to lend a hand and while moving away to fetch a bedside table, glimpsed the patient still trying to get off the bed. 

Spiteri later admitted that the patient might have accidentally been injured against the metal bed rails as he rushed to pull them up or possibly might have hit against the back of the carer’s hand. 

However, when he checked his patient’s face, there had been no signs of injury, the accused said. 

Later that afternoon, a nursing aid had gone to the Nursing Officer in charge, asking him to check on the 78-year-old patient who had visible facial injuries. 

The victim, a stroke survivor who was partially paralysed and had limited speech and mobility, was subsequently rushed to Mater Dei Hospital where he was certified as suffering internal haemorrage in the head compatible to some blunt traumatic injury. 

Two-and-a-half months later, the man passed away after suffering severe pneumonia, before he had managed to give his testimony to the court-appointed expert. 

He did, however, shortly after the incident and in the presence of close relatives, manage to make out that he had been hit in the face, making punching movements with his fist and nodding, then bursting into tears when the accused’s name was mentioned. 

The man’s version had remained unaltered every time investigators questioned him.

That version was corroborated by another patient who had witnessed the aggression, explaining how he had seen “Char” punch the victim four times in the head, calling out to him, “leave him…don’t hit him”.

That testimony, crucial to the prosecution’s case, was closely examined by the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, who did not merely rely on the transcripts of evidence but listened to the audio recording. 

That testimony was further corroborated by other evidence, including the version of one of the nursing aids who recalled that the bed rails had not been lowered and that the accused had not mentioned the fact of fetching a bedside table. 

Even the medical evidence put forward corroborated the eyewitness’s version, said the Court, rejecting the defence’s attempt to discredit that testimony by saying that the fellow patient had been influenced by the victim’s relatives.

“Who would not do his utmost to find out how a vulnerable person entrusted to an institution designed to protect and safeguard his wellbeing, should end up with a bruised face, weeping in a hospital emergency bed?” the court remarked. 

The carer’s own version was deemed not credible by the court, who further pointed out that the accused had not even sought to alert his superiors at the hospital at least to make sure that his vulnerable patient, who had been on anti-coagulants, was monitored after the incident.

Moreover, even if he had tried to stop the elderly man from getting out of bed, there was no need to grip him by the face or exert such force as to cause internal bleeding, Magistrate Frendo Dimech observed.

What the carer did was “shocking, inhuman and cruel,” said the court, adding that such aggression “exploited the vulnerability of [a person] who could not retaliate, defend himself, nor speak out or call for help”.

Instead of finding a safe and caring pair of arms to lean on, the victim had found the accused’s “hard fist to his face,” observed the court, declaring Spiteri guilty of grievously injuring the vulnerable man and condemning him to five years in jail.

Inspector Shawn Pawney prosecuted. 

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