The Attorney General has appealed the sentence of community work that was handed down to two architects found guilty of Miriam Pace’s involuntary homicide, Times of Malta has learnt.

The two architects, Roderick Camilleri, 37, and Anthony Mangion, 73, have also filed their own appeal against the sentence meted out to them earlier this month. 

Camilleri and Mangion were found to be criminally liable over the Ħamrun house collapse that killed Pace last year and were also found guilty of involuntary damage to third party property.

However, Magistrate Joe Mifsud spared them jail in view of their clean criminal record, the age of one of the accused and the fact that the other has particular family circumstances. They were instead ordered to perform a total of 880 hours of community work and also to pay €18,000 in fines.

They are however pushing for a full acquittal and filed their appeal on Friday - the same day that the attorney general filed an appeal against the sentence. The grounds of appeal are still unknown.

The pair had originally faced charges alongside excavation contractor Ludwig Dimech, 37, and 42-year-old construction worker Nicholas Spiteri, who opted to have their case heard by the criminal court.

Their sentence, seen by many as a mere slap on the wrist, provoked an angry reaction, not least by the victim’s widower, Carmel, who described it as being “too lenient”.

Architects were spared jail in view of their clean criminal record

He added, though, that the family was not seeking vendetta for the loss of his wife, crushed under the weight of her home in March 2020.

The lack of an effective or suspended prison term also meant that the two architects could not have their warrants revoked.

An architect can lose a warrant on a decision of the Chamber of Architects (Kamra tal-Periti), of the Professional Conduct Board or through a criminal conviction carrying a prison term of at least one year, even if suspended. 

The chamber was investigating the collapse before suspending it due to the criminal proceedings. It reactivated the investigation when the Pace case was concluded, looking into any misconduct by the architects and whether to take disciplinary measures to protect the public and the reputation of the profession.

It had said it would continue to investigate until one of the parties appeals.