Rehab patient claims sexual harassment made him breach bail

A man facing drug charges claimed in court he absconded from custody because of the sexual advances of his cell mate.

Jesmond Cassar, aka 'it-Titu, was remanded in custody to await judgement on Monday, after claiming the reason he breached bail was down to sexual harassment.

Taking the witness stand, Cassar said he had been granted bail on condition that he received in-patient treatment at a ward adjacent to the Forensic Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital.

Cassar however said his cell mate started demanding sexual favours from him, which the accused refused. "That's what my mother needs to hear now. First I was caught with drugs, and now that I became a homosexual," the witness sneered.

Reprimanded by the magistrate, the 39-year-old addict said he alerted nurses to his complaints, and even tried to a report to the police, apart from demanding an hour to meet his mother.

Yesterday evening Cassar complained of stomach problems and was taken to Mater Dei Hospital. While waiting at the Emergency Department, Cassar ran away. He was apprehended on Racecourse Street, Marsa, at around 1:50 am.

"I did not know what to do. If you see CCTV footage of me at Mount Carmel Hospital you'd see me jumping around and behaving like a little kid. Nobody believed I was being sexually harassed by my cell-mate. It got to me and my mind flipped," the accused told the court..

Legal aid lawyer Mark Mifsud said his client had not been placed under arrest, and that a free man abscond from custody?" the lawyer asked.

"His bail conditions state he has to follow an in-patient treatment at Mt Carmel and will only be sent home once doctors find him clean of drugs. He has not breached any of these conditions and is still willing to go continue treatment," Mifsud said, asking the court to grant bail to Cassar in order for him to continue his treatment at MCH.

Prosecuting Inspector Spiridione Zammit told the court that Cassar had been given various chances by the courts to reform his life. "He was granted bail twice and was also given a probation order yet he refuses to change his ways."

The inspector also said he had not received any reports of harassment from the accused, even if "he had ample time to file such complaints if he wanted to".

The prosecution objected to a new request for bail, saying Cassar was not trustworthy.  "What we ask for is that he serves an effective jail term, maybe he will finally change his life," Zammit said.

Magistrate Natasha Sciberras denied bail to the accused, pending judgement on Monday. The court advised the director of prisons to allow Cassar to be detained and continue treatment at MCH.

Upon hearing the court's conclusions, the accused  Jesmond Cassar interrupted the Magistrate asking her to send him to prison. "I don't want to go back to Mt Carmel, or the sexual harassment will start again as that guy has not had his way yet," Cassar shouted in court.

While the magistrate attempted to explain he would not be detained in the same ward but in the Forensic Unit, she was again interrupted by Cassar's shenanigans. Magistrate Natasha Sciberras ordered that he be remanded in custody at the Corradino Correctional Facility instead.