Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/656590
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2016 News Freeport worker awarded €55,000 for workplace accident MATTHEW AGIUS A court has criticised Malta Freeport for failing to ensure the safety of its employees, ordering it to pay over €55,000 in com- pensation to one worker who had been unable to work for 13 months after an accident at his workplace. Philip Vassallo had been work- ing in November 2012 on board the MV Karina, which had been berthed at the Freeport in Kalafrana at the time. During a container unloading operation, Vassallo had fallen a height of two metres from a platform and sustained grievous injuries. Vassallo took his erstwhile em- ployers to court, holding them responsible for loss of his earn- ings, which he said had been caused by the company's fail- ure to implement the necessary safety measures. Several other port workers had also been in- jured in similar circumstances, Vassallo had alleged in his sub- missions. In his decision on the matter, Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, presiding the first hall of the civ- il court, noted the company had not filed any submissions in its defence and that the plaintiff 's account had been corroborated by a colleague. Whilst acknowledging that there were no specific legal provisions in the Occupational Health and Safety Act which dealt with the job in question, employers were still obliged to implement the necessary safe- guards, the court held. The company was still bound to ensure "a safe place of work," even though the vessel did not belong to the Freeport. By fail- ing to erect a protective railing around the platform, the compa- ny had failed in its duty. No risk assessment had been completed before the unloading operation and the surfaces had been made slippery with oil, it noted. "It was only in the aftermath of this accident, that the Freeport had issued instructions whereby port workers were ordered not to unload any containers if there were no protective railings," Mr Justice Mintoff observed, add- ing that the employer had nei- ther appointed a safety officer, nor had it taken action, in spite of being made aware of the risks involved. The injured worker had worn all of the safety equipment with which he had been provided and the fall had not been the result of his own negligence. As a re- sult the company was held to be entirely responsible for the injury. In calculating the amount to be awarded in damages, the court accepted Vassallo's cal- culation of lost income over the 13-month period of recovery – €71,600, a sum he had based on his colleagues' earnings. The amount was reduced to €55,141 after tax, however, after the court turned down the plain- tiff 's request that the award be tax-exempt. Lengthy prison sentences for would-be thief and accomplice MATTHEW AGIUS A 25-year-old Libyan national and his 34-year-old Tunisian friend have been sentenced to 60 months' and 30 months' im- prisonment respectively, for an attempted burglary from the EF International Language Centre in St. Julians last November. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja had heard police officers testify to having chanced upon Salem Ali Elaidy, who hails from Benghazi, carrying a stolen television set in a Paceville road a short distance from the language school. The officers had seen a white Peugeot reversing on the pave- ment with the boot open and Elaidy approaching it, carrying the television set. Asked by the police what he was doing, the Libyan had dropped his loot and sprinted off. He was arrested fur- ther down the road. In his statement to police, Elaidy had claimed to have found the TV "under a tree" in Paceville. The court, however was not at all con- vinced by this account, pointing out that the man's reaction on be- ing challenged by the police cast some doubt on his version. The court was convinced that he had been participating in the burglary, in spite of him not be- ing apprehended whilst actually removing the TV set, and in the absence of his fingerprints at the crime scene. The magistrate also noted that with regard to the second ac- cused, Abderraouf Barchech, none of the police officers had successfully identified the driver of the white Peugeot. However, in his statement, Barchech had placed himself at the scene of the crime, claiming to have stopped near a taxi rank, parking behind a stationary police car, and buying a pizza before heading home. He had also admitted that the getaway car had been leased to his wife. However inconsistencies be- tween the testimonies of Bar- chech and his wife were held to have seriously undermined their credibility. This led the court to the moral conviction that the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, pointed to the guilt of the two men. Noting that Elaidy was a serial offender and had not learned from several opportunities afforded to him by the courts, he was handed a 24-month sentence to which an- other 12 months were added as he had breached a probation order. A further 24 months were added with the activation of a suspended sentence he had been handed by a previous court, bringing the total sentence to 60 months. Barchech, on the other hand, was handed a 30-month sentence after the court noted that he al- ready had two previous convic- tions. Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Carol Fabri prosecuted. Estranged husband accused of wife's attempted murder Elton Debono was accused of the attempted murder of his wife after a domestic dispute escalated. Debono's father-in-law was also charged after coming to his daughter's defence and damaging Debono's car MATTHEW AGIUS A domestic argument between sep- arating spouses could have ended with a murder yesterday, a court heard yesterday afternoon. Magistrate Monica Vella presid- ed over the arraignment of Elton Debono, of Qormi, accused of at- tempting to murder his wife with a penknife at her Zebbug home on Monday evening. Prosecuting police inspector Rod- erick Agius explained that earlier on Monday morning, the accused had allegedly sent the woman several threatening SMS messages, as she had been refusing to sign unidenti- fied documents which the husband needed to pay a creditor. Eventually they had agreed that he would go over to her house to talk things through. However once there, another heated argument broke out, during which Debono is accused of having pulled out a pen- knife and stabbing his wife between her thumb and forefinger. The woman's 66-year-old father is then understood to have arrived, bran- dishing a metal pipe with which he struck the accused's car several times. Debono, 40, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and attempted grievous bodily harm. He also de- nied charges of harassment, car- rying a knife without a licence, breaching the peace and dangerous driving. Defence lawyer Geoffrey Vella re- quested bail. The prosecution ob- jected, pointing out that Vella had been accused of attempted murder. "We don't do this lightly," added the inspector. "The only graver offence is homicide." There was a lot of anger festering between the parties, submitted the prosecution, pointing to a commo- tion which arose in the corridors of the court building moments before the arraignment. Lawyer Michael Sciriha, appear- ing parte civile for the woman, told the court it appeared that the ac- cused needed medical attention. Even if not granted bail, he should be treated, explained the lawyer, as the defence concurred. Debono's lawyer alluded to "inter- ference" by the woman's parents as a cause of the arguments. "Unfortu- nately my client has a bad temper. They have large debts and his wife is taunting him by not signing cer- tain documents, causing him to be chased by debtors," he explained, at- tributing the incident to "the situa- tion and frustration of the accused." The prosecution concurred with the anger management issue and agreed with the suggestion that he be treated. The court was there to protect society, argued Inspector Agius. "I can't see how the court, faced with a person accused of these charges, having a loose temper and an aggravating situation, could grant bail." In view of the charges and the sur- rounding circumstances, Magis- trate Vella felt that the accused was not sufficiently trustworthy or fully in control of his actions. Arraigned separately, the woman's father, Paul Buhagiar, also pleaded not guilty to charges of causing vol- untary damage to the car, threat- ening Debono and breaching the peace. Magistrate Vella heard lawyer Mi- chael Sciriha describe Buhagiar as "a 66-year old family man who had never had a brush with the law in his life." "There is nothing to prevent him being granted bail. The charges are mostly contraventions, aside from the voluntary damage," counsel said. Inspector Agius however objected to bail. "From what I understand, the father intervened in an argu- ment," said the inspector. "There is the risk that further incidents will occur... had it not been for the po- lice, there would not have been any - one to charge." The police were very concerned by the animosity between the parties, added the inspector. The separation proceedings had fomented such an- ger on both sides that family mem- bers had been close to confrontation even inside the court building dur- ing the arraignment, he explained. Sciriha, however criticised the "inexact" statements made by the prosecution, who he said were at- tributing other people's actions to the accused. "We have a person... a family man, who in 66 years had no trouble with the law, and we are try- ing to impute the acts of other peo- ple outside the courtroom to him." "A father seeing his daughter beat- en every day for three whole years... do you expect him not to intervene when he sees his daughter being threatened with a knife?" the lawyer argued. His client had found himself in the dock due to the actions of the other husband, the defence argued, adding that there were "no obstacles to bail." The court, in view of the particu- lar circumstances of the case, grant- ed Buhagiar bail against a personal guarantee of €1,000, also ordering him to deposit his passport in court and keep away from the husband. The father thanked the court, af- firming that he would obey every bail condition as they were read out to him.