A man who was seriously injured after falling off a three-foot-high pavement in St Paul’s Bay will be receiving no compensation, after a court ruled that the local council was not to blame for the incident.

Joseph Saliba filed a lawsuit against the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and St Paul’s Bay local council in which he held them responsible for the three per cent disability he suffered when he fell off an extraordinarily high pavement in the village.

The court, presided over by magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, heard how the incident occurred on 22 September 2002 in St Paul’s Street in St Paul’s Bay. Mr Saliba was walking with a friend, Joseph Gatt, at around 11.30am while their respective wives were cooking at home.

The court heard how Mr Saliba and Mr Gatt had been walking for about an hour and on their way back home, they met Mr Gatt’s friend and stopped to speak to him. Mr Gatt and this other man sat down on the doorstep of a house nearby. As the two men were talking, Mr Saliba remained standing and at one point, accidentally stepped back and fell off the three-foot (one metre) high pavement.

As a result of the fall, Mr Saliba suffered a fractured elbow and, to add insult to injury, was also hit by a passing motorcycle. He was hospitalised and had to undergo surgery.

The court heard how, some time after the incident took place, Mr Gatt went to the local council offices to complain about the high pavement, which was dangerous to pedestrians. Soon after, the council put up railings to minimise the danger.

The court appointed Dr Andrew Borg as a court expert to examine Mr Saliba and the injuries and any disability he had sustained as a result of the incident. Dr Saliba examined Mr Saliba and in his report said that Mr Saliba had sustained a fractured elbow and had a permanent disability of around three per cent.

Moreover, he said in his report, Mr Saliba had problems with his sight and also had signs of osteoporosis. These factors, he said, could have had an effect on the incident.

According to evidence presented in court, Mr Saliba had been receiving an invalidity pension since January 2002 – eight months prior to the incident. He was 52 years old when the incident took place. Mr Saliba was claiming Lm775 compensation.

St Paul’s Bay mayor Paul Bugeja told the court that the council put up railings on the pavement in question after receiving a complaint from an elderly resident who said that the pavement was dangerous. He said the council had never spoken to Mr Saliba and neither did it know that the incident had actually taken place.

He said the council only came to know about the incident when they received the court papers related to the lawsuit filed against it by Mr Saliba.

The court heard that the pavement was so high because of the way in which the road had been constructed around 40 years ago. Mepa said the pavement had been constructed long before its inception and that it was not responsible for the injuries to Mr Saliba.

Mr Bugeja said the council was not to blame for the incident because it was only responsible for the maintenance of the pavement.

Handing down her judgement, magistrate Scerri Herrera said that while the authorities, including the council, were responsible for the maintenance of such pavements, pedestrians also have to make an effort to be careful.

She said that the court did not believe that the incident happened because of something Mepa or the local council did or did not do, and that Mr Saliba had not managed to prove that the council or Mepa were responsible for the incident. She therefore rejected Mr Saliba’s claims and cleared Mepa and the St Paul’s Bay local council.