Updated 6.30 pm

The magisterial inquiry into the death of construction victim Jean-Paul Sofia has been concluded and delivered to the attorney general and police on Friday, the prime minister announced. 

Robert Abela wrote to Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg to ask her to make the findings public as soon as possible. The Office of the Prime Minister published the letter on Friday.

In the letter, Ablea asked to be provided with a redacted version of the inquiry report. 

"I hope that, in view of the public interest involved, this request will be met favourably." 

Abela told reporters at Auberge de Castille on Friday that "we only want justice to be done with everybody." 

The development comes four days after Abela announced a public inquiry into the tragedy, saying he was forced to do so because Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia had constantly extended her own inquiry. The U-turn to call a public inquiry came just hours before thousands gathered for a protest in Valletta. 

Sofia, 20, died during a construction site collapse at Corradino last December, sparking nationwide anger as his mother appealed to the government to get to the root of the cause. 

On Monday, Abela harshly criticised the inquiring magistrate's “delays,” saying the magisterial inquiry into the accident was taking too long and that the government was a “hostage to the courts”. 

On Friday, the prime minister vowed he had no idea when the magistrate was going to conclude her inquiry, after leading the country to believe that the conclusions would take several more weeks. 

"The fact the magistrate concluded so soon after extending it could have been a consequence of the appeal made. Maybe she realised that she couldn't delay further such a sensitive issue."

He vowed that all those responsible for the tragic incident will be brought to justice.

Abela maintained that since the magisterial inquiry is now concluded, the authorities would act according to its recommendations, with any remaining investigations being actioned by a public inquiry.

He urged the police to act fast on the recommendations.

The fact the government decided to forge ahead with a public inquiry into the incident, in addition to the magisterial inquiry showed it had nothing to hide. The investigations will prove who was responsible for the incident as well as expose those who wanted to capitalise politically from the incident. 

Asked whether he felt he still enjoyed the support of his parliamentary group after the Sofia debacle, Abela said the decision about the public inquiry was supported by the parliamentary group.

The site of the tragedy last December. Photo: Jonathan Borg

What happened before?

Abela repeatedly accused the magistrate of dragging her feet on the case by increasing her deadline month after month.

"What happened this morning was that everyone expected the magistrate to conclude; instead of that happening, another extension was requested," he said on Monday.

In April, Abela wrote to the chief justice, asking him to ensure that the magisterial inquiry is concluded as soon as possible. 

Earlier this month, government MPs voted for a parliamentary motion that called for a speedy conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the tragedy but shot down a public inquiry. 

During the Monday evening press conference, Abela said he was still convinced that the correct method to tackle the tragedy would have been by addressing any gaps through an administrative inquiry after the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry.   

Government sources confirmed that public pressure, especially from Labourites, played an important role in the decision to call a public inquiry.  

Earlier on Friday, former Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi accused Abela of lying when he attacked the magistrate of delays, saying that the inquiry was delivered with five boxes of evidence.