State care home staff failed 'basic practices’, report into missing man finds

2.21pm updated with further details
Staff at the St Vincent de Paul care home failed to follow basic procedures, resulting in an elderly resident walking out of the facility, never to be seen again, an internal inquiry has found.
Four staff left a gate open and unguarded while another four did not provide a handover that would have proven whether they had carried out routine checks on residents through the night. 
Their "negligence" in properly reporting the disappearance "consequently misled all those who were involved in the search" allowing the man to wander far from the facility. 
Charlie Fino, also known as Karmenu, was caught on CCTV leaving the Luqa home at 3am on June 28. The 83-year-old, who has dementia, remains missing but police are waiting for the results of a DNA test on a decomposed body later found in Birżebbuġa to confirm whether he died after leaving the home.
In his findings, retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia pinned the responsibility on the staff on duty that night.

"The inquiry concluded, among other things, that the incident occurred because basic practices that should have been followed by staff who were responsible for the care of vulnerable and senior...