An inquiry has been launched after a Corradino prisoner accused of threatening his wife and breaching a protection order was erroneously let out for almost a month despite being denied bail four times.

“It is scandalous that this incident was only flagged after a magistrate noticed that the accused was not being escorted back to prison at the end of the sitting,” criminal lawyer and Shadow Justice Minister Jason Azzopardi said, who called for an urgent inquiry after this was revealed in a court sitting this morning.

While the accused was being kept under preventive arrest at the Corradino Correctional Facility, it was then discovered that he had been roaming free since July 19.

Malta’s Home Affairs ministry subsequently launched an inquiry into the situation, headed by former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi.

MP Jason Azzopardi flagged the situation as a symptom of a “crisis” within the justice system in Malta.

The magistrate on the case denied the man bail for the fifth time.