The mother and sister of a man who died with lacerations to his throat at the WasteServ incinerator last year have sued the company for damages following a call for criminal prosecutions made in a magisterial inquiry.
Joseph Ellul, 38, from Marsaxlokk, was found dead at the entrance to an elevator near the abattoir in Marsa at around 9am on May 22 last year.
His mother Pasqualina Ellul and his sister Carmen Bonnici have initiated legal proceedings against WasteServ and the director general of the public abattoir, demanding compensation for the death of their son and brother.
The request was made through their lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb.
The claim was filed at the First Hall of the Civil Court and addressed to WasteServ chief executive officer Richard Bilocca and the Director General of the Public Abattoir Stefan Cachia.
Last week, lawyer Jason Azzopardi took to Facebook to post a screenshot of a document he said was an excerpt from the conclusions of a magisterial inquiry into the workplace tragedy.
He said the magistrate had concluded that Bilocca and five other company employees should be charged with the involuntary homicide of their colleague.
Azzopardi added that although the magisterial inquiry calling for criminal prosecution of the WasteServ CEO and several staff members over Ellul’s death had been concluded seven months ago, the attorney general had not done anything about it and no charges were filed.
In a statement reacting to the post, WasteServ said it was not aware of the inquiry conclusions. It denied that its staff had done anything wrong and insisted the death was an unforeseeable, shocking and traumatising accident.
It said it could not comment further on the accident due to ongoing legal proceedings and lashed out at Azzopardi for attempting to distort the staff’s presumption of innocence with an unauthorised leak.
The fatality occurred at the Thermal Treatment Facility in Marsa, which consists of an incinerator that uses heat to process abattoir waste, clinical waste and other hazardous waste streams. Ellul used to operate machines used to transfer or treat water or waste.
The excerpt posted by Azzopardi appears to show that the inquiring magistrate concluded there was enough prima facie evidence to institute criminal proceedings against Stefan Salomone, Silvan Borg, Aylin Fleri, Ryan Mark Cachia, Ryan Cauchi and Richard Bilocca over Ellul’s death.
Azzopardi said the attorney general had received the inquiry conclusions seven months ago but failed to act, adding that this was another demonstration of “impunity that must stop”.
In its statement, WasteServ said its management and employees “steadfastly reject any accusations that they were responsible, even indirectly, for their colleague’s shocking death”.
“Mr Ellul died as a result of an unforeseeable accident,” the statement said.
The employees were “shocked and traumatised” by Ellul’s death and “WasteServ has done everything possible to support the victim’s family and will continue to do so”.