The immediate family of a man who died in police custody in 2020 have taken legal action against the State, claiming it was responsible for his death. 

Richmond Tong, a 35-year-old from Mtarfa, died after he was found suffering from a seizure in his cell at police headquarters on June 24, 2020 at 3.40am.

He was immediately given first aid and a medical team was called, but the man died.

He had been arrested just three hours earlier, at around 12.30am, by two units of the police Rapid Intervention Unit after his movements drew suspicion. He was searched and found to be in possession of a substance believed to be a drug.

After his death, a magisterial inquiry was launched to establish the circumstances surrounding it. A toxicology expert was asked to find out if Tong was under the influence of drugs when he died. 

One high-ranking police source told Times of Malta in 2021 that there had been a development in the inquiry, which appeared to back up the family’s claim that the death could have been prevented. However, the findings remain under wraps and have not even been shared with the victim’s family. 

Tong’s partner and two minor children have now sued the State for damages, blaming it and, specifically, the police, for causing his death and for not having prevented it. 

The case before the First Hall of the Civil Court was filed against the police commissioner, the attorney general, the state advocate, the permanent secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry as well as Police Inspector Stacy Gatt, 28, and Sergeant Karl Nikolai Vella Cassia, 35, who are facing separate criminal proceedings over Tong’s involuntary homicide.

Plastic bag in his stomach

Tong’s partner, Jessica Schembri, claimed in her court application that despite seeing him swallow an alleged substance at the moment of his arrest, the officers did not take him to the hospital for a check-up or to remove the items he had swallowed. 

She said that although the officers had discussed this with their superiors, none saw fit to check whether he was healthy or his life was in danger. 

Schembri said the autopsy concluded there was a plastic bag in his stomach which, when tested, was positive for cocaine, and that he had died because this bag had burst open in his stomach a few hours after he was arrested.

Had the police chief, or his representatives, taken appropriate action at the appropriate time, instead of allowing hours to pass following the ingestion of the toxic substance, Tong would not have lost his life, she claimed. She also claimed that the police had not even bothered to call a medical doctor to examine Tong after seeing him swallow the substance.

In view of all these omissions, she is holding respondents responsible for the man’s death and for all damages, due to their negligence and incompetence, their lack of skill in the exercise of their profession and their failure to treat Tong when he was in their custody. 

She said the defendants had ignored a judicial letter in June demanding that they come forward for the liquidation and payment of damages as a consequence of the incident. This had forced her to step up her action. 

Tong’s partner and children are being represented by lawyers Franco Debono, Francesca Zarb, Edward DeBono and Nicholas DeBono.