3 of 4 deaths in jail last year due to natural causes – inquiries

Magisterial inquiries into four prison deaths last year have concluded that three of them were due to natural causes, while one was a suicide. The inquiry conclusions, seen by Times of Malta, found that all the prisoners had underlying heart conditions that went undetected throughout their lives. A total of 12 prisoners died while serving time at Corradino Correctional Facility over the past three years. Most of the inquiries into the deaths in 2018 and 2019 have not yet been concluded. The most recent case involved a 29-year-old woman who died in hospital about two weeks after she was found unconscious in her cell following a suicide attempt. She had a severe drug problem and had been serving a two-year jail term since February but psychiatrists had not placed her on suicide watch. An inquiry is ongoing. An inquiry by Magistrate Charmaine Galea concluded that Pakistani national Ihtisham Ihtisham, 25, has structural abnormalities of the heart muscle. This was only diagnosed during microscopic analysis as part of the autopsy. The cause of death was down to cardiomyopathy. He was found dead in his cell on November 19 when officers went to check on him after he failed to appear for...