The court ruled that the victim carried two thirds of the blame for the accident, while the company he was employed with held the other third of the responsibility.

Mr Grima, 26, was employed with Penza Construction Limited.

His parents, Charlie and Pauline, and his siblings, Sharon and Clyde, demanded compensation for his death because he was driving the company’s JCB when he died.

Alfred Ciantar witnessed the incident and said Mr Grima was trying to manoeuvre the JCB onto a long-based low loader.

When he finally managed this, the machine overturned as Mr Grima tried to centre it.

Court appointed experts Richard Aquilina and Joseph Zammit confirmed that the JCB overturned when it was already on the loader.

Thus the court ruled that the victim was mainly to blame for the accident. He had been trying to perform a dangerous manoeuvre, especially considering he was driving the excavator in reverse.

Penza Construction Limited was partially to blame because it delegated the man to carry out the job alone. This goes against the safe system of work, the court said. Furthermore, the JCB in question had no protective cabin to speak of – the roof was put together with four pipes and a piece of material.

Mr Grima’s parents and siblings told the court he used to help them financially in different ways. Upon considering all these factors and making the necessary calculations of how much Mr Grima would have earned had he lived, the court ruled the family should be given Lm14,040. The suit had not only been filed against the company, but also against Carmelo Penza as its representative. The court acquitted Mr Penza of any blame because he was not personally liable.

The court was presided over by Mr Justice Geoffrey Valencia.