Prison Director Robert Brincau has resigned from his position as Malta’s prison director.

This comes after he was convicted of threatening a man with a gun last summer and was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for three years.

Magistrate Charmaine Galea found Brincau guilty today in court, raising questions on his position as prison director.

So far, Minister for Home Affairs Byron Camilleri has not commented on the case. 

The incident took place on 21st August near Għadira Bay and revolved around an argument between Brincau and a driver of Alpha Medical, a private ambulance company that had won a government tender to provide services at the Mellieħa beach.

Ambulance driver Liam Doublet testified that he arrived on site after a kiosk owner warned that a man was suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath.

They took the man to Mater Dei, with a nurse accompanying them, and returned to the beach later that afternoon to tend to a beachgoer who had been stung by a hornet.

However, Doublet said that he was then approached by Brincau, a former Red Cross Malta director, and his wife, who is the current director.

Brincau is said to have warned the man not to mess with Red Cross (“Ma tar-Red Cross ma tiċċajtawx”) before head-butting Doublet. The ambulance driver then punched Brincau in the face, with the prison director reacting by whipping out a gun and pointing it at the driver’s head.

“Then he threatened me and my family. This was captured on video,” Doublet testified. “I went cold. I went mute. Had it not been for his wife, who intervened and told him not to do stupid things, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Brincau was only appointed prison director in November 2021, replacing Alex Dalli.

What do you make of his resignation?