An accident in which an Egyptian worker was injured was never investigated by the police or the health and safety authority and only came to light three years after it happened.

The incident only surfaced when 56-year-old Gamal Iskander sought legal advice after his injured leg got progressively worse. He is now unable to walk properly.

The details of what happened emerged as Magistrate Edwina Grima fined 26-year-old Reuben Barun €1,500 after she found him guilty of hitting Mr Iskander with a forklift truck on November 11, 2005.

“Unexplainably” the incident was never investigated by the police or the health and safety authority, Magistrate Grima said.

She said that while she found Mr Barun guilty he should not be left to shoulder full responsibility for the accident as his boss, Charles Cini, failed to provide the proper training to Mr Barun and to see that all the necessary precautions were taken.

On the morning of the accident, Mr Iskander was asked to cut some metal rods and ordered Mr Barun to help by using the forklift to lift the rods. As he approached him, he hit Mr Iskander.

The magistrate heard how despite having a previous medical problem with his left knee, Mr Iskander still worked unaided, but after the accident he suffered a tear in a key part of his knee.

Although he had an operation, his condition never improved and he needs further operations, but because of his health this is very risky, the magistrate said.

She found Mr Barun guilty after taking into consideration the time which has passed since the accident and the contributory negligence from Mr Barun’s employer.

The magistrate added that she wanted to draw the attention of the health and safety authority to this incident to make sure something similar did not happen again.

Lawyer Joe Mifsud appeared for Mr Iskander.

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