A crane operator has been fined €5,000 after a court found him responsible for an incident in which two workers were horribly injured.

Jason Zammit, 42, from Tarxien, was charged with causing serious injury to Ronnie Spiteri and Stephen Azzopardi through negligence, on 17 February 2006.

The two men were attaching a Bank of Valletta poster to a billboard near the San Gwann parish church. They were working from a cage that was suspended from the crane from a height of around one and a half storeys. The crane was owned by Roc-A-Go.

The court heard how the crane operator was distracted speaking on his phone and had extended the crane jib until the hook reached its top. At this point the cage disengaged, and fell down into a field with the two men inside. By this time the cage had risen to a height of more than two storeys.

Mr Spiteri and Mr Azzopardi were assisted by members of the Civil Protection Department and were treated in hospital.

Mr Spiteri had suffered two broken legs and a broken pelvis and all the nerves in his legs were severed. He needed four metal bolts and spent seven weeks in hospital. Mr Azzopardi broke both his legs and his pelvis and had internal bleeding. He said he had also suffered a broken right arm, which was left dangling, adding that a man had helped hold it in place “to keep him from losing it.”

A health and safety expert told the court that the hook that was being used lacked a safety latch, which would have prevented the cage from becoming detached.  The crane also lacked what is known as an ‘anti tube block warning device.’

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera found Mr Zammit guilty of the charges, noting that he had failed to ensure that the necessary safety equipment was used, did not ensure that the victims were wearing safety harnesses and was using his mobile phone while operating heavy machinery.

The Magistrate noted that the accused had in the past been found guilty of a number of crimes, including theft and assault, and had even spent time in prison. Mr Zammit was fined €5,000.

Inspector Bernard Spiteri prosecuted.