The cell where Kim Borg Nicolas Virtu, who died by suicide a year ago, was found unconscious, has remained sealed since and will only be reopened by court order, prisons director Robert Brincau has told Times of Malta.
“Any decision on access to the cell, which has been sealed by order of the inquiry, rests solely in the hands of the court,” he said when asked for a reaction to claims by Kim’s father, Martin, that the authorities were dragging their feet on requests to allow them to visit the Corradino Correctional Facility cell where his daughter had ended her life.
Kim had been found unconscious in her cell on June 16, 2021 and died at Mater Dei Hospital on July 4.
“We’ve been at it for a year. We move a little bit forward and then three steps back. It’s like we’re playing snakes and ladders but there’s no end in sight,” her heartbroken father was quoted as saying yesterday, the first anniversary of his daughter’s death.
“The prison authorities keep postponing our visit to the cell where Kim was being held.
“We are longing to see it. There’s absolutely no closure and we’re not any closer to getting any of it,” he added.
Brincau would not be drawn into commenting about anything else related to the case since there are at least two on-going court cases on the death, a criminal one and a constitutional one. “It’s therefore not prudent to comment on open cases,” he said.
Kim’s death at just 29 led to the suspension and eventual arraignment of two prison warders who were criminally charged over the suicide. The two have been charged with involuntary homicide and with committing a crime they were duty-bound to prevent.
They are denying the charges.
It emerged in court that Kim was hospitalised owing to self-harm just days before her fatal attempt. She had cut her wrists using a broken mirror in her cell before she was rushed to hospital. According to her father, Kim had made four previous suicide attempts, with the last just two days before the one that left her in a critical condition.
The young woman was serving a two-year jail term after admitting to six counts of fraud and theft.
Martin continues to believe his daughter was “driven to insanity” by the prison regime in Corradino, which came under scrutiny after more than a dozen deaths in prison and a number of suicide attempts.
This eventually led to the resignation of notorious prison director Alex Dalli who had run the prison since 2018.
If you need emotional support, you can call Richmond Malta’s helpline on 1770. In case of an emergency, call Mater Dei Hospital’s Crisis Intervention Service on 2545 3950. Alternatively, type OLLI. Chat on your desktop, mobile or tablet browser to chat with a professional 24/7.