The owner of a fireworks factory was today fined €7,000 and ordered to pay €3,000 in court expenses after he was found guilty of the involuntary homicide of a man during an explosion in November 2007.

Vincent Falzon, 45, of Zurrieq, the licence holder of St Katerina Fireworks Factory of Zurrieq, had also been accused of the involuntary homicide of Alfred Cassar.

But in her judgement, Magistrate Audrey Demicoli adopted the conclusions made by court appointed expert Jeffrey Curmi - that the factory was well kept, clean and organised and it was clear that Mr Falzon did his utmost to avoid accidents.

The expert recommended to the accused to stop using the chemical antimony trisulphite in the mixture but noted that this was not an illegal substance.

The court noted that the only shortcoming it could see coming from the accused was that he had allowed Mr Barbara, who was not licenced to work in fireworks, to be on site.

She noted she felt that the prosecution's request for suspension of his licence was not opportune in the circumstances.