Robert Abela decided to exit the main door of Castille on Monday evening because he did not want to be seen “avoiding and ignoring” the crowd still present after the Jean Paul Sofia vigil, a government spokesperson said.

The prime minister stunned the large crowd who assembled for a vigil for the construction victim on Monday night when he was seen exiting the main door of his office. 

Abela was met with jeers and chants of "shame on you", "mafia" and "coward" when he left his office at Auberge de Castille. Bottles were thrown at his car as he drove away. 

However a spokesperson for the prime minister defended his actions. 

"The prime minister waited for the vigil, all the speeches, the placing of candles and the national anthem to finish before leaving his office at 9.30pm. Had the prime minister left from the side door, where there were also people, he would have been accused of avoiding and ignoring the crowd that gathered," the spokesperson said.

Jean Paul Sofia was killed in a building collapse in December on land leased out by the government for a timber factory. Sofia’s relatives had long been asking government to hold a public, independent inquiry into the death and the Opposition filed a motion that was defeated in parliament when government MPs voted against it.

After repeatedly insisting a magisterial inquiry was sufficient to provide justice for the 20-year-old construction site victim, Abela changed his mind and announced a public inquiry into Sofia’s death shortly before the vigil began.

After the vigil, the prime minister, escorted by police officers and bodyguards, exited the building through the main door, where people were still laying candles in front of a portrait of the young victim.

As the prime minister walked to his car on Merchants Street, people shouted insults at him.

The reaction was later deplored by Sofia’s mother, Isabelle Bonnici.

She wrote on Facebook: "While I heartfully thank the thousands who turned up, we were certainly not involved if there were any unnecessary comments made towards the prime minister while he left... as the vigil was over by then and we had left.”

She said the aim of the vigil was to promote love and thanked the prime minister and the Opposition leader.

However, questions have been raised over whether Abela’s decision to leave through the main door and pass through an emotional crowd posed security issues.

One security expert, who preferred to remain unnamed, said Abela could have used the side door to exit the building, as was often done in the past.

When asked about this, a spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister said: “Before the vigil, the Prime Minister had a cordial meeting with Jean Paul Sofia's parents in Castille followed by an informal exchange over a coffee outside the formal setting of the OPM. The activity at Castille square was a vigil with a message of love. The mother of Jean Paul Sofia also acknowledged the prime minister in her address," he said.