A man whose 35-year-old wife was killed in an explosion that rocked Naxxar 10 years ago, has been awarded €312,280 in damages payable by the widow of the man behind the illegal fireworks cache.

Peter Sammut had instituted the civil action for damages in his name and also on behalf of his two minor children following the tragic death of his wife Sina, whose life was cut short when explosive materials, stored illegally in their neighbour’s garage in Triq Ħal Dgħejf, Naxxar, went off.

The man behind the cache, Paul Camilleri, had also been killed in the blast, leaving his wife and son to face a number of court suits filed by owners of neighbouring properties who had suffered damages on account of the massive explosion.

Among these was Mr Sammut, who had not only suffered the destruction of his family home but had also been deprived of his young wife, while the couple’s two young children were left motherless.

The man’s wife and son raised various pleas, including that they were non-suited since they had both renounced to the inheritance of their relative and could not be made to pay with their own property.

Moreover, the wife, Maria Camilleri, argued that her husband used to carry out carpentry works in the garage adjacent to their home, always retaining possession of the key. The woman insisted that she never went to the garage and so denied any knowledge of the dangerous materials that were being kept there.

However, this argument was deemed to lack credibility by the court which found it difficult to believe that the widow had not been aware of what had been going on inside the garage when the couple had “shared one roof”.

The same could not be said for the applicant and his late wife, Sina, who did not have “the slightest suspicion” of what had been stored inside their neighbour’s garage.

The First Hall Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, concluded that, on the basis of all evidence put forward by court experts, “it was amply clear that the damages suffered by the applicants had been totally caused by the illegal cache of explosives and fireworks inside the garage owned by Paul Camilleri and the respondents”.

This was a case where “a person lost her life whilst in the shelter of her home, leaving behind a family with two small children, whilst the person who may have likely started it all, lost his life too,” the court observed.

Shortly after the filing of the lawsuit in 2008, Mr Camilleri’s widow and son had renounced to their relative’s inheritance. For this reason, the court upheld the plea raised by the son, declaring him non-suited.

However, in respect of the other respondent, Mr Camilleri’s widow, the matter was somewhat different owing to the existence of the community of acquests which had applied before her husband’s death.

Property belonging to the community of acquests as well as paraphernal property (personal property derived through inheritance or donations) was to make good for the damages suffered by the applicants, namely the destruction of the family home and the loss of life.

In the case of the destroyed home, the court laid down damages at €175,000.

As for the loss of life, resulting through this involuntary incident, the court took note of the fact that the victim had been a healthy 35-year old housewife, adding further that “housework had an economic value which was acknowledged at law”.

There was “not the slightest doubt” that the woman had died “as a direct consequence of the explosion,” the court concluded, calculating damages at €137,280.

This brought the total damages, payable by Mr Camilleri’s widow in respect of the applicants, to €312,280.

Lawyer Edward Gatt was counsel to the applicants.

In 2016, Ms Camilleri was ordered to pay Carl and Victoria Vella €7,672 and Saviour and Josephine Agius €5,187. The two couples had lost their homes in the blast.