Construct Furniture shareholder fined €7,000, cleared of involuntary homicide in Matthew Bartolo case

After a decade-long court saga, Construct Furniture’s majority shareholder John Agius was cleared of involuntary homicide in the case of 17-year old Matthew Bartolo. Bartolo died in a workplace accident in 2015.

While Agius was fined €7,000 in his capacity as shareholder and director, the other two defendants – Amanda Cefai (former floor manager) and James Cefai (foreman) – were cleared of all charges due to a lack of evidence.

When the tragic accident that claimed Matthew’s life occurred, the only key witness was not in a position to explain how the incident itself occurred. That witness was cleared of workplace negligence in a separate criminal case next year.

In a brief video comment given to The Shift shortly after the hearing was over, members of the Bartolo family expressed their frustration over having spent ten years chasing justice in court, only to come out of this hearing disappointed.

“We don’t think this is fair, because a person’s life does not cost €7,000. If anything, we think that there’s a lot more that could be done…a person’s life went down the drain here. I think that anyone who’s ever lost someone in the same way can agree with us,” Glorianne Abdilla, Matthew’s aunt, said.

“They never even apologised to us about what happened. We want justice for Matthew, and justice must be given here, and that’s it,” she added.

On Sunday, The Shift published an interview with Matthew’s parents ahead of today’s hearing. Leonard and Claudette, who have been attending every single hearing in the involuntary homicide case of their son, have vowed to press onward until they feel justice is served.

The fact that the company has been in court over the matter for the past decade did not stop the government from awarding them one lucrative public procurement contract after another.

In 2021, The Shift published two reports highlighting the extent of the company’s public procurement footprint and how it joined forces with other prominent Maltese businesspersons to bid for major infrastructure projects.