A diving instructor accused of causing the death of a Polish man while leading a group of experienced divers on an expedition to the Um-El-Faroud wreck has been cleared of all criminal liability.
The tragedy took place in April 2016.
Resurfacing prematurely when one of the divers realised she had insufficient air, the group were thrown off course due to currents, drifting out to sea.
Some of the divers had to be airlifted, while others managed to swim ashore. However, a Polish man surfaced unconscious. All attempts by the instructor, Paulina Kurowska, to administer first aid and CPR proved in vain.
Pathologists later confirmed that the cause of death had been barotrauma due to change in pressure caused by very rapid decompression, which causes a person to lose orientation and is conducive to death.
Criminal action was instituted against the Ms Kurowska for causing the death of Przemyslaw Jan Walkiewicz through imprudence, carelessness or unskillfulness in her art or profession, or through the non-observance of regulations.
In the course of the proceedings, from numerous testimonies and documentary evidence put forward, it emerged that Ms Kurowska had been leading a ‘very experienced’ group, some of whom were even ‘rescue dive masters’.
The victim himself had been no novice to the sport, having done 61 dives with the deepest dive being of 29 metres. The dive being led by the accused at Wied iż-Żurrieq was to reach a depth of 25 metres.
It clearly emerged that customary diving procedures had been followed with divers being briefed before the dive and furnished with a dive plan, the court observed.
Before proceeding with the dive, Ms Kurowska had been given the green light by her employer who had assured himself that there were no currents on the wreck’s site and also took into consideration the fact that the group was not made up of “amateur divers”.
The unexpected twist of fate, sparked by one diver’s need to resurface, had prompted the premature resurfacing of the whole group at a point that was not the predetermined point of exit, when the safety of both entry and exit points was a crucial factor to assess the overall feasibility of the dive.
“Could she have foreseen that they would have had to surface prematurely and thrown off-course due to currents which came into play only when they surfaced due to the unexpected turn of events?” questioned the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.
Moreover, upon realising that the Polish diver had surfaced unconscious, Ms Kurowska had been “quick to embark on a series of knowledgeable and calculated actions undertaken in a bid to ensure his safety.
“Her professionalism emerged from the fact that she was still instructing two of the divers as to the measures to be taken not only to bring Mr Walkiewicz safely to shore but also to summon help, remaining the last person to be brought to safety,” the court observed.
The fact that the victim had ascended too rapidly, this resulting in barotrauma, was certainly no fault of the accused, the court noted further.
“There is not a shred of evidence that the accused was wrong in her assessment of the situation,” the court declared, acquitting the instructor of all criminal wrongdoing.
Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha were defence counsel.