Director to face charges over incident that left girl paralysed

The director of an entertainment company is expected to be arraigned over an incident that left an 18-year-old girl paralysied after scaffolding collapsed during a party in Qawra last September.

The would-be model, Vladyslava Kravchenko, was paralysed from the waist down. She was the most seriously hurt of eight people taken to hospital that night. The others got off with slight injuries. There were about 120 youngsters at the party, which was held in a car park opposite the Ta' Fra Ben Restaurant.

Maurice Attard, 44, is expected to be charged with grievously injuring Ms Kravchenko and causing slight injuries to the other seven people through negligence. His company supplies lighting and sound equipment to the entertainment industry.

Ms Kravchenko said she remembered nothing of the incident. She had just arrived at the party when the scaffolding collapsed.

Her "life turned 180 degrees" around after the accident, she said yesterday. But she has a resilient attitude and said "life must go on".

She attends Sixth Form at St Aloysius College and said everyone there was really good and kind to her, pointing out that the school had made all the necessary adjustments to allow access for her wheelchair around the school.

The next step for Ms Kravchenko, who goes to physiotherapy twice a week, is to raise funds for her to take part in a stem cell research programme in Moscow, but the plans are still in the pipeline.

Police Inspector Paul Bond will be prosecuting.