The mother of a three-year-old boy who fell down a shaft and died testified in court yesterday and said that there was nothing to stop people from falling down the gaping drop.

Vanessa Agius was testifying against Francis Mamo, 53, a director of Oman Construction Ltd, who stands charged with the manslaughter of Gabriel Agius in Zebbug on 16 April.

Mr Mamo is the owner of the block where the toddler tragically fell to his death from the first floor into the basement.

The woman said her son was with her when she parked her car in the basement garage. As they left the garage, she noticed that water was dripping down from the ceiling. She decided to investigate and took the lift up to the first floor to see where the water was coming from.

She said she remembered speaking to her son momentarily before the fatal fall as she remarked to him about the substantial quantity of water they saw. She said they both looked up to see where it was coming from and when she looked back to her son she could not see him but heard a thump. She realised that Gabriel had fallen down the shaft so she raced down the stairs to try and tend to him. She did not move him as she had worked with nurses and knew that she should not do so. She screamed for help.

Mrs Agius said there was nothing to stop anyone from falling down the hole and that the garages were in pitch darkness. She said there was another unsafe drop and the local council attempted to improve the situation, but it was only made completely safe when the police intervened.

Brian Zammit, who owns three of the garages in the block, said he had approached Mr Mamo about the danger on many occasions, but his pleas to make the openings safe had fallen on deaf ears.