Officer to face charges
Ability to swim was not a prerequisite
An army lieutenant is expected to be charged with the involuntary homicide of Gunner Matthew Psaila, who died during military training in February.
The police have issued charges against Lieutenant Chris Vella, a 27-year-old from Żabbar, who is expected to be arraigned shortly.
He will face charges of causing the death of Gunner Psaila through negligence and of committing a crime he was in duty bound to prevent.
The charges, issued yesterday morning, are the first development in apportioning responsibility for the death of the 19-year-old soldier as the findings of a magisterial inquiry, concluded in March, remain under wraps to date.
A spokesman for the army confirmed the officer was still in service but would not comment further.
The officer heads the platoon to which Gunner Psaila belonged and was in charge on the ill-fated day of February 13.
The 19-year-old actually died in the early hours of February 16 after succumbing to injuries he sustained during the exercise at Chadwick Lakes where he had been pulled out of the water unconscious after spending some 10 minutes submerged and 20 more without a pulse in the ambulance.
The magisterial inquiry is one of three formal investigations probing the circumstances leading to the death. The other two are the army's internal military inquiry and Judge Victor Caruana Colombo was appointed by the Office of the Prime Minister to look into the case too. The judge said he expected to conclude his inquiry soon.
Information remains scant but three soldiers, including Gunner Psaila, were reported to have found themselves in difficulty and went under on the day. When the supervising soldiers realised this they jumped in to help but, according to unconfirmed reports, nobody seemed to have realised that Gunner Psaila was submerged under the bridge.
Army head Brigadier Carmel Vassallo had later confirmed others had also experienced difficulties.
Gunner Psaila could not swim and this had raised the question as to whether his commanding officer was informed of this fact or not. It was later established that, in order to enlist with C Company, being able to swim was not a prerequisite.
The young man enlisted with the army on March 17, 2008 and in November he was in the passing-out parade, which meant he qualified as a regular soldier with the force, his dream come true. He was deemed to have the right potential and talents to serve in the elite unit.