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NEWS 8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 APRIL 2019 MATTHEW VELLA THE committal of a man to Mount Carmel Hospital by police officers – streamed live on his Facebook profile – did not breach his rights, the Commis- sioner for Mental Health has decreed. The conclusion by the commissioner into the case of Mario Portelli, a for- mer police constable who had been a discredited witness in the sensational HSBC heist case, was published by health minister ChrisFearnein a reply to a PQ. Although Fearne said he would not publish the entire report, due to pri- vate medical information, he repro- duced a one-paragraph conclusion de- claring thatPortelli'scommittal, at the behest of his parents, did not breach his rights: "Having taken all the evidence in consideration, the Board does not con- sider that MrPortelli'srights as a men- tal health service user were breached during the period indicated for inves- tigation. The Police acted under Ar- ticle 44(4) of the Mental Health Act. The admission process was effected through a first medical assessment at Mater Dei Hospital and subsequently completed with a second specialist as- sessment effected within 24 hours of admission at Mount Carmel Hospital." Portelli'scommittal had been round- ly criticised by Malta's mental health charities and associations.Alliance for Mental Health (A4MH) – which in- cludes Malta's psychiatrists, psychia- try nurses, the Richmond Foundation and the Mental Health Association – had demanded the investigation into the handling of Portelli during his ar- rest which he livestreamed on Face- book. Portelli can be seen in his livestream shouting at his elderly father, whom he accused of having called the police over to the family home. The alliance said that in instances were involuntary hospitalisation was unavoidable, strict procedures, as laid down in the Mental Health Act, need- ed to be followed. "These procedures determine that a medical doctor would have reviewed the person and recom- mended hospitalisation as the only reasonable course of action to preserve life and safety," A4MH said. ButPortelli,formerly PC 99 – a "star" witness in the criminal case against former police inspector turned law- yer David Gatt – had made his pres- ence clear on social media by alleging he had evidence of the Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat's ownership of a secret Panamanian company,Egrant. Portelli, who in the past had already been hospitalised at Mount Carmel hospital, started making waves on so- cial media by livestreaming Facebook videos of cryptic messages in which he asserts that Muscat owns Egrant – months after a magisterial inquiry de- creed that previous claims made by the journalist Daphne Caruana Gali- zia could not be proven and were not evidence-based – and that the minister Chris Cardona was responsible for the murder of the journalist. All his claims hark back to previ- ous newspaper reports, including a more recent, and stranger request: to Romeo Bone, a victim of a car bomb- ingin which he survived but lost both his legs. Strange, because Portelli was convinced that Bone had been com- missioned to carry out a hit on him. In fact, Bone had been arrested out- side Portelli's house by police surveil- lance. Bone, then aged 34, was charged with intent to murder Portelli in 2011, ostensibly over Portelli's claims of Bone's involvement in a criminal gang. Bone was freed of the charges a year later. Portelli had claimed that Gatt was the mastermind behind the crimes, and that he styled himself on Cor- leonese mafia boss Totò Rina. But in 2016, the courts lashed out at the decision to chargeDavid Gatt over the HSBC heist solely on the basis of Por- telli'stestimony, afterPortelliwasdis- missedfromthepolice force over men- tal health issues in 2014. In 2017 Gatt was acquitted. Portelli's livestreamed arrest earned support from a former ally of sorts: Godfrey Farrugia, the leader of the Democratic Party. Portelli was at one point associated with the small party, having been photographed accompa- nying PD MP Marlene Farrugia in a meeting with former PN leader Simon Busuttil. Not just any meeting: but the meet- ing during which Farrugia and Busuttil sealed an understanding on their For- zaNazzjonalicoalition in 2017. Godfrey Farrugia questioned wheth- erPortelli'sarrest had followed proto- col. His partner Marlene also said she had visited Portelli in hospital: "He seems calm and well cared for," Farru- gia wrote, adding that a lawyer was to visit him later in the afternoon. No breach of rights for man who streamed committal by police on Facebook Mario Portelli livestream his detention by police officers from his father's home MATTHEW AGIUS A 30-year-old man charged has been charged with raping a col- league who had been cleaning a room at their place of work. Rabat resident Sandesha Shet- ty, 30, from India was arraigned under arrest before Magistrate Monica Vella on Tuesday by po- lice Inspectors John Spiteri and Stacy Attard. Inspector Spiteri told the court how on 7 April, the police received a report from a woman claiming to have been raped while she was at work at the care home. The woman told the police how, at around 10am while she was cleaning a room, the ac- cused had allegedly gone into that room, grabbed her from be- hind and raped her. The incident lasted around a minute, after which the accused went to make a sandwich and returned to continue but desist- ed as people had since entered the room. The victim had then called her boyfriend and filed a police re- port. The woman was asked to sub- mit to a medical examination which confirmed that rape had taken place, said the police In- spector. The accused's lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia entered a not guilty plea. Bail was not granted. The court ordered that the name of the home and the al- leged victim not be published. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Alfred Abela appeared parte civile for the victim. Care home worker charged with rape of colleague WE ARE RECRUITING Interested candidates are kindly requested to send their CV along with a covering letter to info@mediatoday.com.mt by not later than Friday 17 May 2019. Only selected applicants will be summoned for an interview. fb.com/maltatoday MediaToday Co Ltd Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann SGN 9016 Tel. 21382741 info@mediatoday.com.mt twitter.com/maltatoday maltatoday MediaToday is looking for a full-time sales executive to work on an exciting new online platform that the company will be launching this year. The chosen candidate will work with the platform's design and sales teams under the direction of the digital marketing specialist. 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