23 people were arraigned today in connection with the November incident at the PlusOne incident in Paceville, in which over 70 people were injured. The accused include three directors and two managers employed by the nightclub.

Directors Hugo Chetcuti (photo), 49, Frankie Grima, 58 and Carlo Schembri, 41, and one of the managers, Jonathan Grima, 37, were charged with causing injuries to a number of people through negligence. They were also charged with a myriad of safety and regulation offences related to the lack of emergency exits, the lack of necessary licences and health and safety measures and employing the service of unlicensed bouncers.

Mr Chetcuti and Mr Grima were also charged with transferring a food establishment’s licences without informing the MTA.

The four, along with Mark Azzopardi, another manager, were also charged with allowing underage people to enter the club, serving alcohol to minors and allowing people to smoke inside the premises. Mr Grima is abroad and did not attend today’s sitting.

The directors of Executive Security Services Ltd - Stephen Ciangura, 38 (photo), and his mother Teresa, 66, were charged with employing an unlicensed bouncer without notifying the ETC.

Their employee, Bojan Spasic, 22, from Serbia, was charged with working as a private guard without having the necessary licence and smoking inside the club. Mr Spasic did not appear for the sitting.

Two bartenders, Clayton Camilleri, 29 from Attard, and Vanessa Farrugia, 19, also from Attard, were charged with selling alcohol to underage people.

Next up was a group of bouncers – Mark Dimech, 34, from Santa Venera, Russell Vassallo, 22, from St Pau’s Bay, Emanuel Caruana, 54, from Qormi, Roderick Caruana, 27, from Marsascala, Tyson Grech, 20, from Senglea, Christian El Ichati, 19, from Valletta, Wayne Catania, 25, from Mosta, Constantine Borg, 48, from Birkirkara, Saviour Grima, 43, from St Paul’s Bay, Noel Agius, 41, from Birzebbuga and Renard Tabone, 38, from Hamrun.

The first nine were charged with working as bouncers without having a licence.  Mrs Catania, Borg, Grima, Agius and Tabone were charged with admitting underage people into the club.

Constantine Borg and Mark Dimech were also charged with breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence. Tyson Grech did not show up for the sitting and was fined €500 for being in contempt of court.

The last two to be arraigned were two teenagers who were involved in the initial incident that led to the stampede. Zach Latif, 18, from St Julians and Andre Bugeja, 17, from Sliema, were charged with causing serious injuries through negligence and breaching the peace. Mr Latif alone was charged with possession of an irritant (pepper spray).

All the accused were arraigned before Magistrate Ian Farrugia. Inspectors Elton Taliana, Saviour Baldacchino and James Grech. Lawyers Joe Giglio, Tonio Depasquale, Kathleen Grima, Arthur Azzopardi, Toni Abela and Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared for the accused. The case will continue on 8 April at 9am.  

An inquiry led by Magistrate Doreen Clarke had found a litany of safety and security failings, including the presence of unlicensed bouncers who failed to coordinate an orderly evacuation of the club.

It found that Bojan Spasic, an unlicensed bouncer employed by a security company whose director is Stephen Ciangura, decided to evacuate the club unilaterally without advising any of the other bouncers. The Malta Independent had revealed that Mr Ciangura, who is seconded to the MCST by the AFM, does not have the army’s approval to run a private business.While Mr Spasic was evacuating patrons at the top of the club’s stairs, another two bouncers were trying to stop people leaving the club at the bottom of the stairs once they saw the crush. This led to a mass of people gathering on the club’s stairs and the eventual collapse of the glass bannister, which was not properly fitted.

The inquiry found that 450 people were in the club at the time of the incident, over double the club’s stated maximum capacity of 200.

The club has a number of other doors leading to other establishments apart from the main entrance/exit, but none of these classify as emergency exits.

At least 34 minors were found inside the club, and a number of them were consuming alcohol as well as smoking inside. The last safety audit carried out by the club directors was in 2004.

The original licence for the club was granted by the Malta Tourism Authority in 2003 to Hugo Cast Co Ltd, which is run by Carmelo Schembri. The club was actually run by Three Sixty Ltd, whose directors are Hugo Chetcuti, Raymond Grima and Carlo Schembri.