Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/705249
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 JULY 2016 News Two more charged with sexual abuse of underage boys MATTHEW AGIUS TWO men have been charged with sexually abusing underage boys, after police investigations into three other men who were charged on Monday, led the of- ficers to discover further abuse. Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona heard Inspector Joseph Busuttil charge X, aged 66 from Zejtun and Y, from Gozo, with sexually abusing a total of five youths, aged 14 to 17. The men were charged with so- liciting sexual favours from the underage boys, with whom they would correspond online, use violence to subject them to their will, participating in sex acts with the youths and distribut- ing pornographic material. The charges carry a maximum pun- ishment of five years imprison- ment each, the inspector pointed out. X would arrange to meet his 15-year old victim on the inter- net, and would then offer money in exchange for sex acts, said the Inspector. The accused pleaded guilty. The man's defence lawyer, Carm Mifsud Bonnici suggest- ed a treatment order. "I am not someone who really believes in prison in these cas- es," the magistrate concurred, "what he needs is a psychiatrist." Nevertheless, the court jailed X for two years and nine months, imposing a custodial sentence close to the minimum and placed him under a three-year treatment order. Unlike Monday's arraign- ments, however, the court up- held the defence's request to ban the publication of the names of the accused. X will, however, be required to sign the protection of minors register, the sex of- fenders register, which is avail- able to the public. A protection order was issued in favour of the minor. If the accused approached the child again, said the court, "it would be a different matter then. He will be locked up and the key thrown away." In a separate arraignment in the morning, Y, 36, from Kercem, also appeared in court to face the same charges – in this case concerning four boys, aged 14, 15, 16 and 17. The younger man did not ad- mit the charges. Lawyer Franco Debono entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Y and requested bail, pointing out that Y's father lived in Gozo, while his alleged victims lived in Malta. He would be able to live in Gozo with his father, submitted the lawyer. Busuttil contested the bail re- quest, arguing that the accused was known to use every existing type of social media to contact his victim. "It makes no differ- ence if he is in Malta, Gozo or the Bahamas, as he will still be able to approach witnesses." The court denied the bail re- quest, but upheld the defence's request to ban the publication of the man's name as final judg- ment had not yet been deliv- ered. When the defence point- edly asked whether this meant the other man arraigned in the morning could therefore be named, the magistrate said it did not. "The important thing is that he is registered on the protection of minors register," the court said. Man jailed over 2007 fatal crane collapse MATTHEW AGIUS A Gozo court has jailed a man whose permit-less crane collapsed on a car and killed its occupant in 2007. Baskal Saliba, 54, was jailed for two years for negligently caus- ing the death of Sammy Spiteri, whose car had crashed into the structure in Victoria on 7 Octo- ber, 2007. The high speed impact occurred at around 4:40am. Spiteri's car hit the crane with such force that the crane was knocked off balance and collapsed, the counterweight falling directly on Spiteri vehicle, crushing it. Spiteri, whose toxico- logical report showed him to have been well over the drink-drive limit and to have taken ecstasy, died after debris lacerated his lung. Magistrate Joe Mifsud noted that the accused lacked a permit to set up the crane in that road and that this showed a lack of good judgement on the part of the accused, also noting that his failure to cooperate with the law showed that the man felt he was above the law. The court agreed with the con- clusions of an engineer's report that lambasted Saliba's "great and manifest" negligence and stressed the importance of ensuring safety at the workplace. The court said it must send the message that human life is impor- tant and supersedes all other con- siderations. The accused deserved a custodial sentence in spite of the involuntary nature of the offence, as the net result of his negligence was that a person had lost his life. Saliba was also ordered to pay the costs of the case. Sammy Spiteri was in a car when the crane collapsed over it in Victoria Suspended sentence and fine for throwing dog down a well MAT THEW AGIUS A man who admitted to throw- ing his own dog down a well has been convicted of charges relat- ing to cruelty to animals. Eugenio Galea, 57 of Senglea, was arraigned in May last year after police rescued the dog. According to reports, the dog was saved just in time thanks to immediate action by the po- lice who had been alerted to the situation. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja found the man guilty on the strength of the accused 's uncon- ditional guilty plea. Galea was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, together with a €1,000 fine. Police Inspector Josric Mifsud prosecuted; law yer Benjamin Valenzia appeared for the ac- cused. Court says negligence caused goalpost accident at Floriana 5-a-side pitch MATTHEW AGIUS A director of a company operating a five-a-side football pitch, and a groundsman have been fined for contributory negligence over a 2012 incident that left a player suf- fering from a permanent disability. Police Inspector Kylie Borg charged Anthony Zahra, 68 and Mark Piscopo, 44, with negligent- ly causing a grievous injury that caused permanent disability to ar- chitect Hector Zammit, who suf- fered a head injury during a char- ity football tournament held at the Floriana football ground. Zammit had suffered head inju- ries when a metal goalpost toppled over and struck him in the face at the moment he had gone to check if it was secured to the ground. Zammit testified that he had started to awaken, drifting in and out of consciousness, later that evening, in intensive care, bleed- ing heavily from the ears and nose. He said he had noticed that he had double vision, could not hear anything and was bleeding so heavily that the coagulated blood on his face had rendered him un- able to open his mouth at the time. In fact, Zammit had suffered a fracture at the base of his skull, which caused nerve damage and paralysis in one eye, facial paraly- sis and a fractured jaw. He was operated on for a burst ear canal and had metal plates implanted in his gums, going on to spend close to a month recover- ing in hospital. He was assessed as having suffered a 29% disability. Four years later, he told the court, he still complains of impaired hearing and vision, and balance problems, as well as insomnia. He also suffers from ongoing jaw pain which makes it difficult for him to eat, he said. Zahra, the director of Green In- vestments Limited operates the 5-a-side pitch in question, and Pis- copo, who was not an employee, but took care of the day-to-day management of the ground, were accused of negligently causing the incident. Piscopo was not trained in the setting up of 5-a-side pitches or risk management, noted the court. This laid the blame at Zahra's door for failing to employ a per- son responsible to oversee health and safety at the ground, said the court. Piscopo had told the court that he had checked the ground in the morning, seeing that the goal- posts were chained in place and secured, before locking up and going home, handing the keys to a person whose name he could not remember. But in her judgement, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that the court had heard several witnesses contradict his claim that the goalposts had been chained. It opined that he was not experi- enced enough to manage a football pitch, adding that he should not have taken on the responsibility. "There is no doubt that he was negligent in his actions when he failed to place sandbags on the goalpost frame or chain it down. In a tournament with children... it is to be expected that someone would fiddle with the goalposts or that there would be a shot of such force that it could topple it over. The court held Piscopo and Zah- ra jointly responsible for the pay- ment of a total penalty of €5,000, as well as the costs of the case. Green Investments Limited director and a groundsman were fined €5,000 for an accident that left charity tournament participant suffering 29% disability