The death of 19-year-old Gunner Matthew Psaila during military training could have been avoided, a former army commander concluded in a report produced in court yesterday.

The report flags the facts that there was no reconnaissance before the training day at Chadwick Lakes and that the water level was not measured before the fully kitted out soldiers took the plunge.

The report lays part of the blame on Gunner Psaila himself for failing to speak up when asked specifically before the training exercise whether he could swim, which he could not.

The young soldier drowned on February 13 during a training exercise that included wading through very cold water that at times reached depths of up to two metres.

Gunner Psaila went under water shortly after going through a tunnel and had to be pulled out and given CPR. He died in hospital after two days in intensive care.

Lieutenant Christian Vella, 27, of Żabbar and Lance Bombardier Marvic Peregin, 31, of Pembroke stand charged with involuntary homicide and committing a crime they were in duty bound to prevent as members of the army.

In an unexpected twist, before the proceedings started, Police Inspector Joseph Agius presented a judgment handed down in 2001 when Lance Bombardier Peregin had been found guilty of taking part in a hold-up and was handed down a three-year probation.

Brigadier Maurice Calleja, former commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, then read out the conclusions of his report into the fatality.

He questioned the fact that no one had walked under the bridge to check the depth of the water before the exercise. He also highlighted the fact the Gunner Psaila had failed to say he could not swim, a fact confirmed again yesterday by fellow soldier and friend Wayne Bonello, who said that only one soldier had said he could experience some difficulty when the question was put to them before the exercise and that was not the deceased.

The bridge where the incident occurred also proved to be a critical factor in the tragedy.

Gunner Bonello said that within seconds of going under it, all hell broke loose and everyone started panicking. "I was bobbing up and down. I started to swallow water and went under two or three times". He was gasping for air and struggling to stay afloat. When he finally found a stone, he stood on it.

He said that nobody helped him. Lance Bombardier Peregin had been helping someone else and so he decided to fend for himself.

Everyone then went onto the bank and a head count was made. A second group of soldiers arrived and since everyone was in uniform it was hard to say who was who, the soldier testified. It was only after a second head count had been taken that it dawned on some that Gunner Psaila was missing and they started shouting: "Psaila Psaila, Psaila".

Gunner Bonello said he remembered seeing him last on the right hand side and told them so.

He said the search "took a while" and both Lieutenant Vella and Lance Bombardier Peregin had jumped into the water immediately as they realised that Gunner Psaila was under.

The water level was never measured before they went in and they had never trained in fresh water before but had coped with cold water as they were used to swimming in January and February in Birżebbuġa, the soldier testified.

The case continues.

Lawyers Joseph Giglio and Stephen Tonna Lowell were defence counsel.

Lawyers Emmanuel Mallia, Michael Tanti-Dougall and Arthur Azzopardi appeared for the victim's family.