Six accused of negligence in death of 83-year-old Carmelo Fino
Six St Vincent De Paule staff members charged with involuntary homicide and neglect over the disappearance and death of Carmelo Fino in 2022
The compilation of evidence has started against six people accused of carelessly causing the death of 83-year-old Carmelo Fino when he disappeared from inside the San Vincenz De Paule residence.
The accused are Rhys Paul Xuereb, a 27-year-old nurse from Santa Venera, Jose Thomas a 45-year-old Health Carer from India, Jacqueline Cassar a 56-year-old Security Officer from Luqa, Thomas Zammit a 50-year-old Health Carer from Ħ’Attard, Ivan Dimech a 47-year-old Security Officer from Gudja and Emanuel Aquilina a 59-year-old Security Officer from Mosta. They are all pleading not guilty to the charged.
The case goes back to June 2022 when Carmeno Fino disappeared from St Vincent de Paule (SVDP). A fortnight later, he was found dead and in a strong state of decomposition in a field under some trees in Għar Dalam Street.
From the autopsy, it turned out that there was no involvement of third parties and the death was not suspicious.
An independent inquiry by Judge Geoffrey Valencia revealed that on the night of June 28 2022, the outer gate was left open when it should have been closed, and staff failed to notice Fino leaving, only reporting his disappearance at 8am the next day.
Testifying before Magistrate Marsanne Farrugia, Inspector Paul Camilleri said that on June 28 in 2022, officers at the Luqa police station were informed by a nurse that one of the patients in SVDP had disappeared.
Police went to the residence and spoke to the workers there in the morning. They told the police that an internal investigation was underway because it was suspected that the old man, considered a vulnerable person, could have been inside the residence.
The police were also informed of the names of the people who were working that night and one of the nurses told them that at 5am he saw Fino while having tea. They said that a head count was carried out in all the halls as well as a search in the chapel and in the back area of the residence. The searches were continued by the workers of the Civil Protection Department using dogs and even drones.
The police had also spoken to one of the accused, Rhys Paul Xuereb and he said that he had a lot on his plate that day and could not keep up with the patients. When police had questioned Xuereb about what happened at 5am, his version of events changed. He said he hadn’t actually seen the elderly man and was unsure on what to write on a record, despite earlier claiming to have seen him in the hall.
In a press conference on 16 August 2022, MUMN President Paul Pace defended Xuereb, saying he was a victim of a “frame-up” and had been suspended without a chance to defend himself.
The inspector said that before sunset, one of the relatives of the old man arrived at the residence, and together with the police they saw videos from the security cameras installed at the main gate of the residence.
Around 2:45am, security footage captured Fino leaving the building, lingering briefly in the security room, then exiting through an open iron gate. Outside the facility, he was seen walking towards Luqa until he disappeared from the security camera’s view near Lidl.
The inspector said the search finished when the old man was found in a field near Villa Overhills in Birżebbuġa in a strong state of decomposition, stranded against a tree.
The corpse was identified through extensive DNA testing as being that of the missing man, Carmelo Fino.
Sergeant Gary Saliba testified, corroborating Inspector Camilleri's account, and stated that the person who reported Fino's disappearance did so six hours later, after workers searched the residence and, after finding no trace of the elderly man, called the police for assistance.
At the end of the hearing, the Court declared that there is enough evidence to indict the six people.
The prosecution was led by Inspector Paul Camilleri together with lawyer Sean Gabriel Azzopardi on behalf of the Attorney General.
The defendants were assisted by lawyers Franco Debono, Adreana Zammit, Beppe Darmanin and Antonio Depasquale.
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