Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1005614
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JULY 2018 3 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The investigation had also found that meetings were held with a representative of the company before it sub- mitted its "winning" quota- tion. Moreover, it had also been noted that the contract was artificially split into 13 individual contracts, for "no justifiable objective reason". In its judgment the court said it could not accept the company's logic in stating that it should not suffer the consequences of the PBS breaking the law, pointing out that a contract that was illegal was null and void. Furthermore, the court said the company was wrong in its assertion that public procure- ment regulations did not ap- ply to private companies. "Once the company became interested in entering into contracts with an entity sub- ject to these rules, it auto- matically became exposed to these regulations," the court said, adding that any illegali- ties in the contract applied to both sides. Moreover, the court said that the company couldn't even be said to have acted in good faith in winning the con- tract. "This court is convinced that the company was aware of what was going on, especially when considering that the contract of service was divid- ed into a number of contracts instead of one," read the judg- ment. The court said that the fact that the company had agreed with PBS to change its origi- nal prices was something that went against the rules, as was the fact that a call for quotations had not been made through the normal platform. "This should have made the company aware that some- thing that went against the law was happening." In addition to ordering the company to pay court expens- es, it was also ordered to pay a €1,000 fine given the frivolous nature of the appeal. MATTHEW AGIUS AN elderly man had his testicle saved by doctors at Mater Dei hospital after being assaulted by his wife, who is 20 years his jun- ior. The incident happened on 25 September last year after the couple had an argument on the balcony at their home in St Ju- lian's. The man had been informed by doctors that he risked losing his left testicle. A consultant told the court that the man's left testicle was hanging out of the scrotum. However, doctors managed to save the testicle after operating on the man. His wife, Eva Langridge Stast- na, 51, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm. Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech hand- ed down a two-year prison sen- tence suspended for four years on the basis that the woman was a first-time offender. The woman was also ordered to submit to psychological treat- ment for her violent outbursts and placed under a three-year restraining order. The man told the court that at the time he was frequently argu- ing with his wife, who was blam- ing him for the fact that her son was not successful at school. On the night, the couple argued on their balcony with the woman accusing her husband of being a paedophile and a drug addict. The argument went on for about an hour. As he left the balcony to go into the kitchen, she had blocked the way by standing in the door way. When he had attempted to get past her a couple of times, she punched him on the left side of his head and pulled at his hair. The man tried to restrain her but this developed into a tussle with the accused scratching him on his legs, chest and hands. The bruises and abrasions re- mained visible to the court de- spite the fact that he had testified over a month after the incident. The court heard how the ac- cused had kicked the man below the knee whilst also biting him on his arm, "shaking her head whilst his arm was firmly in her mouth". "I was trying to get her head off my arm and a few seconds later she got my testicles, my private parts, she managed to get her hands inside my shorts and she started pulling like crazy. Even- tually I was begging her to stop, she's got long fingernails and I'm telling you it was agony," the man testified. He asked her a few times to stop because "this is too painful". When she stopped, Langridge Stastna stood up and looked at him. The man was still on the floor as she walked away. "I gradually stood up with diffi- culty and I told her that I needed an ambulance," the man told the court. The woman did not offer as- sistance and the man retreated to the bedroom to get his mo- bile and call for help. Langridge Stastna simply stood and stared at him. He could not find his keys or wallet and by that time he need- ed to rest so he remained on the bed. It was later that he noticed that the sheets were stained with blood. Woman's version is 'fiction' In assessing the case, the court noted that the injured party was a frail 71-year-old while his wife was a 51-year-old of sturdy build. The court dismissed as "in- credulous at best," the accused's version of events in which she omitted to mention the alterca- tion and simply said that the next day he had told her he was not feeling well. "The accused's testimony jars dramatically with reality: She admits that when her husband informed her he was going to the polyclinic she didn't ask him why," the court said. The court said it found the tes- timony of the accused both un- safe and unsatisfactory. Her de- meanour on the witness stand failed to convince the court of her genuineness and credibility. The magistrate said the court had a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violence. Criticis- ing the prosecution, it said it could not but note that the ac- cused had not been charged with offences against the abuse of the elderly and dependent persons, which carry punish- ments of greater severity than those with which the accused stands charged. "There is to be no place for such demented actions, for fren- zied attacks on persons who, due to age or other circumstances, can't even be assured protection within the confines of their own homes, attacks on individuals who suffer aggression from those to whom they entrust their care and companionship." Ball-breaker: Wife gets suspended sentence for injuring husband's testicle Court finds against Burmarrad Commercials and fines company €1,000 for filing 'frivolous' appeal