Employer cleared of responsibility for young worker's death

A court has sharply criticised the police and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority for not working together to properly establish the facts which led to the death of young worker Matthew Bartolo in the accident at Constructure Furniture 10 years ago.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit made her comments as Construct Furniture director John Agius, floor manager Amanda Cefai and foreman James Cefai were acquitted of involuntary homicide.

Agius was convicted of having engaged Bartolo without undertaking a risk assessment and fined €7,000. 

All the accused were acquitted of failing to keep proper records, perjury, suppressing the evidence of a crime, and providing false information to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA). Agius was also acquitted of recidivism. 

The court in its considerations said that the prosecution in such cases needed to prove that there was a link between an alleged shortcoming by the accused and the employee, and that their acts of commission or omission caused the fatal incident.

While Agius was the director of the company which engaged Bartolo on January 12, 2015, there was no evidence that Bartolo was employed by the Cefais. All that transpired from the evidence was that they were both at the factory when the fatal incident occurred.

A court-appointed expert had reported that the machine did not have any issues.

In its judgement, the court said it did not understand how the prosecution did not consider the conclusions of the court-appointed expert, and did not take criminal action against Nick Bellizzi, the engineer who certified the machine in 2012, and who should have carried out a risk assessment of the full machine. 

It was clear that Bellizzi was responsible for the health and safety of the machinery, with the prosecution having failed to show whether Construct Furniture had a health and safety officer.

From the evidence it emerged that Agius was working on the basis of instructions issued by Bellizzi. Had there been any shortcomings, the accused was not alerted to them by the engineer. 

The court also noted that Agius had installed a safety barrier to the machine out of his own will, showing that he was “serious” in his work, contrary to Bellizzi. 

It therefore acquitted all three accused of the main charge of involuntary homicide.

It also acquitted the Cefais of the charges related to health and safety, finding that there was no contractual link between them and the victim.

With regards to Agius, the court said the situation was different since there was an employment contract. While Agius made use of Bellizzi’s services, he was not exonerated from his own duties. During the proceedings no documents were presented to show that Bartolo had undergone medical tests before being employed.

It also emerged that the instructions on how to use the machine were not observed prior to the incident, with the court referring to the conclusions of a technical expert.

In his testimony, Agius had said that Bartolo could have sought to place the wood on the machine in a better manner. Instead of stopping the machine altogether, he had jumped over the barrier and slipped. 

On the basis of the available instructions to workers, the court ruled that Agius had done his utmost to ensure a safe working environment. Blundell should have been answerable to the shortcomings and not Agius, the court said.

Agius was found guilty of employing Bartolo without a prior risk assessment  and without ensuring that he was assigned adequate work.

The trio were acquitted of forging Bartolo’s signature on the employment contract, with the court noting that the court-appointed expert was never asked to carry out a comparative exercise on Bartolo’s signatures. Nor had the prosecution proven that the accused were making use of a fake employment contract.

Agius was also not found guilty of recidivism after the prosecution did not present the judgement by which he had been found guilty earlier.

This was the second prosecution in connection with the case. In 2023 David Peter Blundell, 50, who had been working alongside the 17-year old, was acquitted of failing to take all necessary health and safety measures during the operation of the machine. He was cleared of responsibility for the death.

The court in its latest sentence rapped the prosecution and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority for not having worked together in the investigations of this case to establish what happened that led to Bartolo’s death.

Despite so many years having passed, the court said it still did not have a clear picture of the unfortunate accident that led to the loss of life of someone just started out in life.

“This court hopes that nowadays the two entities are working effectively together and for the benefit of society,” the court said.

Agius was fined €7,000 and acquitted of the other charges. The Cefais were acquitted of all the charges.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit presided. Police superintendent Hubert Cini and inspector Joseph Mercieca prosecuted. Lawyers Veronique Dalli, Edward Gatt and Pio Valletta appeared for the accused. Lawyer Jason Azzopard, Kris Busietta and Alessandro Farrugia appeared for Bartolo’s family.

Family members disappointed and frustrated

Following the court's decisions members of the victim's family expressed frustration and disappointment by the outcome. 

They said the outcome was unfair and much more could have been done int he 10 years since the tragedy.