Sagid Ilsraquay Tegualde, an Eritrean migrant residing at the Safi detention centre, had arrived in Malta on September 17, 2004. It was his second stay in the country, having been deported on a previous occasion.

He suffered from asthma and tuberculosis, and was frequently hospitalised. After suffering an asthma attack in January, he was referred to St Luke’s Hospital by a doctor at the Paola health centre. However, he refused to go and resisted violently when the ambulance arrived.

He was subsequently admitted to St Luke’s on February 4 and taken to the M8 ward.

On the next day, Mr Ilsraquay Tegualde was examined by a 28-year-old doctor, one of the 2 being charged. In her statement to police, she said that the patient acted aggressively and refused to be examined, and was also short of breath.

She informed her 31-year-old superior, who is also being charged. The senior doctor instructed her to give the patient 5mg of Valium to sedate him. The junior said that she did as she was told, even though she was aware that the use of such sedatives were not recommended for asthmatic patients.

The patient complained of chest pains when she visited him 2 hours later, and she gave him asthma medication Ventolin in view of his condition. However, by the next time she visited him, he had died.

An autopsy showed that the death was due to a collapsed lung, intra-pulmonary leakage and bronchial asthma.

The doctors’ names cannot be published by court order.

Police inspector Joseph Agius prosecuted. The case is set to continue in December.

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