A police sergeant failed a standard drugs test when he was remanded in custody at Corradino Correctional Facility after he was denied bail last month.  

Glenn Carabott, 40, stands accused of non-consensual sex, taking a video of the encounter and committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Sources told Times of Malta that Carabott was taken in for police questioning on Friday afternoon after the drugs squad was informed by prison officials that the sergeant had tested positive for drugs. He was on duty at the time of his initial arrest on rape. 

Earlier this year, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri had pledged to introduce a reform making it obligatory for police to submit to a drugs test.  The reform is yet to be introduced.

During his arraignment two weeks ago, Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard how Carabott had allegedly raped a woman who had called the Qawra police station to report a theft. 

Although it is standard procedure for police to respond to such calls in pairs, the sergeant showed up at the woman’s house on his own. The theft was not logged in the police’s report database either.

Furthermore, the prosecution presented the court with a video of the incident found on Carabott’s phone. 

The victim spoke to a doctor after the alleged rape and was then interviewed by police. 

Carabott has served in the force for 18 years and also served in Kosovo as a peacekeeper.  In 2018, he was widely praised for rescuing a baby which was found abandoned outside a block of flats in Buġibba.