Two undertakers were fined while another one was conditionally discharged after they were found guilty of being involved in a brawl that broke out at the St Luke’s Hospital morgue on 31 August 2006.

Emanuel Mifsud, 55, was fined €800 after he was found guilty before magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera to grievously injuring rival undertaker Louis Borg. He was also found guilty along with his brother Carmelo Mifsud, 51, and Malcolm Mifsud, 32, to disobeying police orders, threatening a number of people and breaching the peace. Carmelo Mifsud was fined €400 while Malcolm Mifsud was conditionally discharged for a year.

The incident took place at the morgue’s parking space at around 2pm when four corpses were to be taken for their respective funerals. A number of hearses were already parked when another car, which had to carry a priest who had just blessed one of the corpses, was reversing and nearly hit a new hearse. The hearse’s driver shouted at the other driver to stop as he was going to hit his vehicle.

That was the spark that ignited a brawl that involved two families of undertakers, the Mifsuds from Qormi and the Borgs from Sliema, as well as their respective employees. The brawl involved some 15 people. Police Inspector Mario Tonna prosecuted.