Updated 12.35pm
A developer who sent Jean Paul Sofia to the Corradino construction site that killed him told police interrogators that he and Sofia were “like brothers, not boss and worker”.
The statement, presented to court by Inspector Antonello Magri at the start of criminal proceedings against Schembri and four others on Wednesday morning, did not go down well with Sofia’s grieving family members, who were seated in Magistrate Rachel Montebello's courtroom.
Matthew Schembri told the police that Sofia, 20, worked for him as an air conditioning installer but also went to the Corradino site to take photos of construction works, to relay to him.
He was emotional when interrogated and said construction workers were the responsibility of Milomir Jovicevic, a contractor who also stands accused of causing Sofia’s death in the collapse.
Sofia worked for Schembri’s company Whitefrost Ltd. The Corradino construction project was being undertaken by another of Schembri’s companies, a joint venture with Kurt Buhagiar named AllPlus Ltd.
Sofia, 20, was buried alive when the partially built Corradino building came crashing down on December 3, 2022. Five other workers were injured in the collapse.
A sixth worker managed to avoid injury by leaping onto a concrete pump that was at the site at the time, then sliding down to safety.
Schembri and his business partner Kurt Buhagiar, architect Adriana Zammit, contractor Milomir Jovicevic and his wife and company co-director Dijana Jovicevic are all pleading not guilty to criminal charges.
All five were arrested and charged after a magisterial inquiry concluded that there was a long list of failings at the construction site – from a badly designed building to poor construction practices, health and safety failings and forgery on the project’s commencement notice.
Prosecuting inspector Magri told the court that in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, neither Schembri, Buhagiar or Jovicevic could say with certainty how many workers were present onsite.
Schembri alerted rescuers that Sofia was possibly beneath the rubble and the police confirmed that was the case when his phone’s GPS signal led them to the collapsed building.
Sofia’s body was found shortly after 2am, 14 hours after the building collapsed.
Inspector Magri told the court that the architect, Zammit, appeared to be in severe state of shock when she reached the site and had to be tended to by medical staff.
The five people charged with the Corradino death of Jean Paul Sofia (clockwise from top left): Matthew Schembri, Kurt Buhagiar, Adriana Zammit, Milomir Jovicevic and Dijana Jovicevic. Photos: Chris Sant Fournier/Matthew MirabelliHis colleague, inspector Paul Camilleri, told the court that Schembri had confirmed that the stonemason listed on the commencement notice, John Muscat, was his uncle.
Muscat told the police that the signature on the notice was not his. A handwriting expert concluded that the signature was most likely Schembri’s.
The case will continue on September 19.
Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Franco Debono and Jacob Magri are representing Schembri and Buhagiar.
Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell is representing Zammit.
Lawyer Timothy Bartolo is representing Milomir and Dijana Jovicevic.
As it happened
Live blog ends
12.30pm That's all for this live blog today.
We'll have a summary of the key points of today's hearing available at the top of this article shortly.
Thank you for having joined us.
Court decrees five accused to stand trial
12.09pm That’s all the evidence for today.
Magistrate Montebello accedes to a request by the defence to provide copies of bodycam footage to the five accused.
None of the five defendants have opted to contest what is known as the prima facie (whether the evidence at first glance is sufficient for them to stand trial).
The court therefore decrees that there is enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial on indictment.
The case is deferred to Tuesday, September 19.
Jovicevic couple demanded disclosure
12.05pm Lawyer Timothy Bartolo notes that his clients, the Jovicevic couple, chose not to answer questions because they had not been given full disclosure. They only received a full copy of the magisterial inquiry three hours before they were due to give their statements, he says.
What Schembri told the police
11.59am Schembri and Buhagiar turned themselves in at a police station and replied to some of the interrogators’ questions.
Schembri said that he was sorry and that he would have done something, had he known that construction was not being done properly. The workers were Milomir Jovicevic’s responsibility, he told the police. He also confirmed that the stonemason, John Muscat, was his uncle.
Schembri told the police that Sofia worked for him as an AC installer, but that he also went to the Corradino site to take photos of progressing works.
He said he had tasked Adriana Zammit as the architect and made Jovicevic responsible for construction works.
Schembri told the police that the building was in line with design guidelines provided by INDIS Malta [the state-run agency that manages industrial estates and which leased the land to Allplus].
Inspector Camilleri testifies
11.57am Inspector Paul Camilleri takes the stand. He will be the last witness in today’s hearing. Camilleri joined the case relatively recently, on the day that the magistrate informed police that the magisterial inquiry was concluded.
He was involved in arresting all five suspects and taking down their statements.
Stonemason's forged signature
11.54am The Corradino project’s commencement notice featured the signature of stonemason John Muscat. But Muscat told police that the signature wasn’t his. A handwriting expert concluded that the signature was most likely created by Matthew Schembri, the inspector tells the court.
The inspector confirms that he attended all sittings of the magisterial inquiry. And that wraps up Magri’s testimony.
Defence: we were not given full disclosure
11.52am Adriana Zammit’s lawyer, Stephen Tonna Lowell, says his client was not given full disclosure. [This is a point Schembri and Buhagiar’s lawyers also argued in the immediate aftermath of their arrest].
Schembri claimed he and Sofia were 'like brothers'
11.46am Defence lawyer Franco Debono asks about Matthew Schembri’s attitude when he was interrogated by the police.
The inspector says Schembri burst into tears and claimed he and Sofia “were like brothers, not a boss and a worker” and that they also used to go out together.
Those statements don’t go down well with Sofia’s relatives, who are seated in court.
Developers denied knowledge of any bad practices
11.44am Schembri and Buhagiar both said they had no indication that anything was being done incorrectly during construction. Had they known they would have halted the construction immediately, they told police.
Allplus and Whitefrost
11.42am Magri tells Joe Giglio, who is appearing parte civile (on the Sofia family's behalf) that Sofia entered the building from one of two doorways. He explains that footage obtained from Garcia Woodworks, next door to the site, showed him walking in at 9.53am.
The van that Sofia drove to the site belonged to Whitefrost Ltd [Schembri’s company]. While the Corradino site belonged to Allplus Ltd [a company co-owned by Schembri and Buhagiar], Sofia was a Whitefrost employee.
Collapse site still guarded
11.30am Answering a question by his colleague, Inspector Paul Camilleri, Magri says that the collapse site remains guarded by a fixed point officer to this day.
Schembri told police about Sofia
11.19am It was Schembri who told the police that Sofia might be on the site, the inspector testifies. [Sofia worked for Schembri’s company WhiteFrost Ltd. A magisterial inquiry concluded that Sofia was regularly tasked with visiting the site and taking photos of it, to send back to Schembri].
Sofia's phone showed that he was onsite at 9.51am, the inspector says, and footage showed him entering the site. But they could not tell where he had gone once inside the construction site.
Contractor did not know how many workers were onsite
11.17am The next witness is inspector Antonello Magri. Magri is one of the case’s lead prosecutors, but he was also on duty at the Paola police station on the day of the collapse.
When Magri reached the site, Civil Protection Department rescue teams were already at work. Ambulances were onsite.
Magri confirms that neither Schembri and Buhagiar, not Jovicevic could say with certainty how many workers were onsite at the time of the collapse.
The architect was also there, but she was soon taken away by ambulance as she was under great shock.
Site closed off
11.12am Answering a question by defence lawyer Franco Debono, the constable says the site was closed off at both entry spots. PC Farrugia is done testifying.
Worker survived by grabbing pump
11.10am Most of the injured workers were foreign, and it was difficult to identify them. Police realised Sofia was still beneath the rubble because his mobile phone location pointed to the collapse site.
Two of the workers had life-threatening injuries, two others were grievously injured, another was slightly injured.
Another worker, a Maltese, had felt the building collapse, grabbed onto the cement pump and held on for dear life. He emerged unscathed and managed to slide down to safety.
Architect 'in shock'
11.07am Then, the project’s two developers, Matthew Schembri and Kurt Buhagiar, arrived onsite. The constable says he and his colleague took their details and asked them how many people were onsite at the time of the collapse. The developers could not say.
Jovicevic was also on site. Soon after, the architect (Zammit) arrived . She was in a great state of shock.
Police made it clear to the developers and contractor that they were only interested in identifying who was working on-site at the time. They were not after information as to whether those working had valid permits or not.
Factory owner saw collapse
11.01am The case begins, and it’s a police constable who will be its first witness. PC Farrugia was stationed at the Paola police station on the day of the collapse.
On December 3, 2022 the station got a call from the police control room at 10:13am, alerting them to a roof collapse at the Corradino Industrial Estate and informing them people might be injured.
PC Farrugia went on site with another constable.
He recalls seeing a concrete pump crane and a ready mix truck there.
Police spoke to the owner of a company located behind the collapse site. He was in his office when he heard a loud noise. He told the police that he looked out, and saw the collapse.
Acccused in court
10.57am The various people facing charges are also in court now.
The architect, Adriana Zammit, is in court with her lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell.
The developers, Michael Schembri and Kurt Buhagiar, are also in court. They’ve got a trio of lawyers in Arthur Azzopardi, Franco Debono and Jacob Magri.
The contractors, Milomir and Dijana Jovicevic, are here with their lawyer Timothy Bartolo and two interpreters. Dijana Jovicevic is heavily pregnant.
Inspectors in court
10.51am The arson case is wrapped up for today, and the court's focus can shift to the Sofia case.
Inspectors Paul Camilleri and Antonello Magri, who will lead the prosecution, are now in court.
An unrelated arson case
10.43am While we wait for the Sofia case to begin, here are some details about the case currently being heard by the magistrate.
A coach driver who was fired in June stands accused of trying to set one of his former employer’s vehicles on fire. The vehicle’s tyre exploded, and initially the company thought that the July heat might have been to blame. But when a mechanic took a look, he noticed traces of diesel.
The company inspected CCTV footage and saw their former employee walk into the company’s compound at around midnight three weeks ago.
He was seen entering at 12.02am. “At 12:06 he calmly walked out,” said one of the company directors when testifying in court this morning.
Courtroom filling up
10.38am We've spotted plenty of fellow journalists in court, as is to be expected.
Members of Sofia's family are here, and we also saw one of the accused, Matthew Schembri, walk into court earlier.
Who is the magistrate?
10.28am We're in hall 10 of the Valletta law courts today, with Magistrate Rachel Montebello due to preside over the compilation of evidence against the five accused.
The case has not started yet - the magistrate is currently hearing a separate case.
Welcome
10.20am Good morning and welcome to our live blog.
Eight months since Jean Paul Sofia was killed in a construction site collapse at Corradino, the wheels of justice are in motion.
Five people involved in the Corradino project will today appear in the courtroom dock as the criminal case against them begins.
And tomorrow, retired judge Joseph Zammit McKeon and two others will begin a public inquiry - separate to the criminal case happening today - into the December 2022 tragedy.