The soldier in charge of a training exercise that went tragically wrong said yesterday he was angry that he was being accused of causing the death of a young recruit.
Lieutenant Christian Vella said that he sympathised with 19-year-old Gunner Matthew Psaila’s family and his death affected him personally. However, he was angry at how “he is in the dock and the Armed Forces of Malta are not”.
Together with Lance Corporal Marvic Peregin, 31, of Pembroke, the 27-year-old from Żabbar is charged with the involuntary manslaughter of Gnr Psaila on February 13, 2009, at Chadwick Lakes. The recruit had died three days later from hypothermia.
Lt Vella testified yesterday that the particular training exercise, called a route march, was meant to be held on a cold and wet day to prepare soldiers for the conditions they might face abroad. It was part of the syllabus issued by the AFM headquarters and had to be followed.
Before the exercise started, he asked the soldiers if any of them had difficulty swimming but nobody spoke up. He said he also ordered the instructors of each group to ask again because the soldier’s macho attitude might lead them not to admit to any weaknesses.
There was only one soldier who came forward and said he had difficulty swimming and was also feeling cold. His instructor, Lance Corporal Peregin, made sure he stayed close to the soldier.
The day before the incident, Lt Vella had carried out what is known as a recce together with Lance Corporal Peregin and they walked the entire length of the course and also tested the temperature of the water.
They had no equipment to get an actual reading and so they put their feet and hands in and used their experience from training abroad to gauge whether it was suitable for the recruits.
He also used a bamboo stick to measure the depth of the water near a tunnel where Gnr Psaila went under water. He had navigated this course before and was very familiar with the depth.
Lt Vella said that, following the tragedy, the structure of the AFM had changed and training at the spot where the accident happened had ceased. The training, usually drawn up by one officer, was now done by a separate department.
Joseph Giglio and Steve Tonna Lowell appeared for the accused, while Michael Tanti-Dougall is representing Gnr Psaila’s family.
The case continues.