Prison director admits to 'attempted escape' of female prisoner

Zammit, who replied to our questions confirmed that the prisoner "attempted to escape" but was caught soon after, however he added: "there was no need to inform the police nor a magistrate about the matter.:"

Critics were swift to point out that the attempted escape should have been reported to the police according to procedure.

According to sources, the prisoner escaped as she waited to be seen by a doctor at Boffa Hospital. She was not handcuffed and her accompanying prison guard was apparently speaking on her mobile phone.

When the prisoner escaped, the warder only  raised the alarm with her colleagues who rushed to the search the area.

According to procedure a prisoner escape is considered to be a grave incident, that warrants a magisterial inquiry and a police investigation.

The inmate was returned to Corradino prisons, and the warder returned to her duties as normal.