Copyright timesofmalta
Two former carers of Dar Arka were handed a suspended sentence after they were found guilty of assaulting a dependent adult who was in their care, hitting him with a shoe and shouting at him. Andrew Debono, 48, from Victoria and Andrea Cilia, 41, from Kerċem, were arraigned in court over an incident that took place on May 1, 2023 at Dar Arka in Għajnsielem. The pair were accused of causing a dependent adult to suffer under circumstances not likely to produce bodily harm or death and attempting to use force against a resident with intent to insult, annoy or hurt the resident. In court, it emerged that the Victoria Police Station received a report on May 23, 2023 about physical abuse by two carers employed at Dar Arka, where they used excessive force on a resident in their care. The police went onsite and spoke to manager Marco Formosa in the presence of Social Care Standards Authority, that is in charge of issuing licences to such care homes. Formosa told the police that on May 2 he had been informed about two separate incidents that took place a day earlier involving Debono and Cilia. The carers were given a written warning over the incident after allegedly using excessive force. The police established that there was a commotion between the victim and Cilia, with the resident pulling Cilia by the hair. When she managed to remove the resident from on top of her, she hit him with her shoes and pushed him savagely on the sofa. Cilia then informed Debono about the incident, who at the time was out with some other residents. When he returned, Debono went to look for the victim, shouted at him, pushed him and hit him. The resident has autism and severe intellectual disability. A doctor appointed by the court testified that the victim is dependent on others for his physical needs and could not even testify in the proceedings. The court pointed out that the accused were care works who were mean to take care of the wellbeing of residents at Dar Arka but their behaviour caused the victim to suffer physical pain. The court established that the resident’s aggression was triggered after she teased him when he tried to remove the chair on which she was resting her legs. The resident grabbed her by the hair. She pulled him from his t-shirt to remove him from on top of her. Until then, there was no criminal responsibility. From the CCTV footage, it was established that the resident left her alone and moved away. However, she got up, followed him, took off her shoe and hit him twice before pushing him savagely onto the sofa. While the court acknowledged Cilia could have been angry at the resident, her action was not justified especially because the resident could be seen walking away. The court observed that the resident can be seen scared and in a curling position trying to shield himself. It also held that Debono’s actions were more serious since he went directly on the resident without any previous contact. Debono could be seen hitting the victim on the chest, the victim tried to get away but Debono shouted in his face and again the resident went into a curled position trying to defend himself from the aggression. The court observed that in all of this Cilia stood by without trying to stop Debono. In its considerations, the court observed that the pair were first time offenders but could not ignore the seriousness of the case of an assault on a vulnerable person with severe disability. It observed that the care workers were responsible of ensuring the residents’ well being and not behaving in a violent manner. “They are obliged to provide a high level of care, but they did not do so, instead they did something which was not expected of them,” the court said, adding that it would not apply any sanctions under Probation Act and instead will apply a suspended sentence in the minimum allowed by law. The court handed Debono and Cilia a one-year prison term suspended for two years. They were ordered to pay €385.96 each within six months in court expenses. The court did not issue a restraining order in view of the fact that the pair were fired, but instead they were bound in recognizance of a sum of €1,000 for a period of a year to keep peace. Magistrate Jean Paul Grech presided over the court. Police superintendent Bernard Charles Spiteri prosecuted.
