A young soldier died during training because two of his superiors failed to properly plan out the “high risk” exercise, a lawyer insisted yesterday.
Michael Tanti Dougall, appearing for the family of the deceased, argued that Lieutenant Christian Vella and Lance Bombardier Marvic Peregin were directly to blame for the death of Gunner Matthew Psaila.
Both stand charged with the involuntary homicide of the 19-year-old through negligence and committing a crime they were in duty bound to prevent.
Gnr. Psaila died following an army training exercise in Chadwick Lakes on February 13, 2009.
A group of soldiers had to make their way through a tunnel in freezing cold water and, at one point, he went under and remained there for some minutes.
Lt. Vella was in charge of the training exercise while LBdr Peregin was assisting.
In final submissions, Dr Tanti Dougall said that, the day before tragedy struck, the accused had carried out an amateurish reconnaissance operation, using a stick to measure the depth of the water. They had also dipped their feet into the water to measure the temperature without taking an accurate reading when, on the day in question, bad weather had considerably worsened the conditions that went unchecked by both officers.
The bottom line was that the prevailing atmospheric conditions and the fact that the soldiers had to carry heavy equipment during a high risk exercise led to the victim suffering hypothermia and drowning, the lawyer argued. “Did these two officers act prudently and with caution? All the indications are that they did not follow regulations”, the lawyer said.
He said the incident could have had a worse ending because other soldiers had experienced problems, noting that LBdr Peregin had saved three lives by pulling the soldiers out of the water.
A report into the incident by the Armed Forces of Malta confirmed that those responsible for the training were the accused and not the AFM as such, as was previously stated by defence counsel, Dr Tanti Dougall noted.
He said Gnr Psaila died in the same way as passengers on the Titanic had perished, drowning after suffering hypothermia.
The lawyer referred to the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, where prominent members of the Nazi party had been prosecuted. He said that during those trials it had been established that the officers responsible were those in charge, just like in this case.
Lawyer Joseph Giglio, appearing for the accused together with lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell, argued that the person who assisted the police in drawing up the charges, the Attorney General, was the same one who declared in a civil suit instituted by the victim’s family that the two officers were not to blame.
The Attorney General concluded that Gnr Psaila had died due to a misadventure and that no one person was to blame for his death, Dr Giglio said.
He added that both the AFM report and another by the Prime Minister’s Office exonerated the accused from any responsibility. Furthermore, when it came to the training exercise, a court-appointed expert had established that there were no standard operating procedure and that the accused themselves required training.
Dr Giglio is expected to continue with his submissions on June 27.