Owner of plot, worker jailed for causing two deaths

The owner of a plot where two women died following the collapse of a block of flats in St Paul's Bay five years ago has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of negligence.

A construction worker received an 18-month jail term but a third man, the building contractor, was acquitted after it emerged he had warned the owner that the work being carried out did not conform to regulations.

The owner, Paul Demicoli, 51, of Birkirkara, and the construction worker, Kevin Bonnici, 33, of Birżebbuġa, were found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Maria Dolores Zarb, 60, and Nadezda Vavilova, 24, on June 3, 2004, in Ramon Perellos Street. Ms Zarb was giving Maltese private lessons to Ms Vavilova at the time of the collapse.

Paul Magro, director of Asphaltar Company Ltd, who had been charged along with Mr Bonnici and Mr Demicoli, was found not guilty after the court heard how he had refused to carry out works on the site.

The block of flats, which sat adjacent to the plot where Mr Bonnici, Asphaltar's employee, was working, collapsed after he had cut through the bearing concrete surface of the building, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said in a 200-page ruling.

According to Mr Magro's testimony, the works were not proceeding according to the regulations of their trade and his only input was to send Mr Bonnici to pick up left-over construction waste from the site and put it behind a wall.

However, Mr Bonnici was or-dered by Mr Demicoli to remove the bearing surface of the supporting wall next to the block of flats. This also went against the advice of architect Joseph Falzon.

On the witness stand, Mr Falzon said he had specifically instructed Mr Demicoli not to touch the supporting wall. The instruction was given in front of two other builders who were working on site.

Mr Demicoli, in his testimony, claimed it was Mr Falzon who had ordered him to remove the supporting base but this version was not corroborated by any of the other witnesses, the magistrate said.

The plans presented in court had nothing to do with the supporting wall which collapsed and Mr Demicoli had not asked for any help and not filled out any risk assessment form. Neither had he taken any advice from officials from the Department of Health and Safety.

Mr Demicoli had also given Mr Bonnici instructions to cut flush along the supporting wall of the adjacent block but this was against the law because a two-and-a-half foot gap had to be left before cutting, the magistrate said.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera found them both guilty of the involuntary homicide of the two women and causing the women's death through negligence, as well as of lack of professionalism, failure to observe regulations and failure to safeguard people's safety.

In her judgement, the Magistrate also made a series of recommendations to prevent a repetition of cases such as this.

She suggested that demolition and excavation work should be carried out only after clear and written instructions were issued by an architect. The work should be carried out by contractors and workers who were properly trained and certified for the work, and use appropriate equipment.

A method statement should be approved by the authorities before works commenced, and no works should be carried out if defects were found on the site or adjoining property.

Contactors should be held liable if they went ahead with works without prior approval or after ignoring professional advice. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, should also be empowered to revoke or suspend permits when safety conditions were not obser-ved.

Appropriate equipment should be used when excavating. An architect should be present on site but this should not be taken as an automatic approval if the architect's instructions are not carefully followed.

The government recently laun-ched new building regulations, expected to be presented in Parliament soon, under which residents neighbouring building sites will have the right to review the method statement and object if they believe the way work is to be carried out does not provide enough safeguards for their property.

In handing down judgment, Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that Mr Demicoli had previous convictions for theft, causing slight injuries, taking a false oath, dangerous driving and causing damage to a vehicle, and not informing the ETC about the employment of a worker.

Mr Bonnici also had a conviction related to driving without a licence. She added that this was a very serious case even though the deaths were involuntarily caused.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio appeared for Mr Magro, while lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami appeared for Mr Demicoli, lawyer Paul Felice appeared for Mr Bonnici and lawyer Gianella Caruana Curran appeared parte civile.