Court upholds contractor’s prison sentence

The Court of Appeal yesterday confirmed a seven-day prison sentence in a case filed by the Director of Courts against a contractor who had failed to follow a court order and stop building works in St Julians.

Last June the First Hall of the Civil Court had confirmed that Mark Debono and Waterproof Ltd had acted in contempt of court when they had failed to observe the provisions of a warrant of prohibitory injunction which had forbidden them to carry on with the works. The warrant was issued at the request of lawyer Simon Galea Testaferrata and his wife.

The first court had jailed Mr Debono for seven days and fined the company €500.

Mr Debono and the company appealed from the judgment to the Court of Appeal composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Joseph A. Filletti and Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia. They submitted that at no time had they committed contempt of court. They added that the case had been put off for judgment without them having been given the opportunity to present their version of events.

Furthermore, they submitted that they were not the only contractors on site and no evidence had been submitted to show that they had continued works after they had been served with the warrant of prohibitory injunction.

But the Court of Appeal dismissed all the submissions and confirmed the first court’s ruling.

The court noted that Mr Debono and the company had been served with the notice of the court hearing but they had failed to attend a number of sittings. When the case was put off for judgment they had not requested the first court to suspend the delivery of the judgment. Consequently, their right to a fair hearing had not been violated.

The fact that Mr Debono and the company were not the only contractors on the site was irrelevant, said the Court of Appeal. Both parties had been served with the court order prohibiting them from continuing the works. They ought, therefore, to have immediately obeyed the order.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the first court’s judgment and sentenced Mr Debono to imprisonment and the company to a fine.