A 46-year-old woman is set to be paid upwards of €16,000 in compensation by Transport Malta and the Valletta council after she tripped on an uneven paving and broke her ankle.
Due to the incident, the woman suffered 7% disability, with the court ruling last week and finding both entities responsible for the damages.
The case goes back to April of 2017, which is when she fell in St John Street, opening up a case against the transport agency and the council in 2019.
The woman, who is not being named on confidentiality reasons, was operated on in hospital and spent 12 weeks recovering in bed. She was operated once again to remove pins in her ankle, and ended up paying €704 in medical fees.
The council had argued that work on the paved road had just been completed by contractors employed by Transport Malta and stated that the woman was careless to walk on the pavement.
TM told the court that the road did not fall under its responsibility at the time – in fact, none of the Valletta streets did, it held. The defence lawyers of the victim asked for €19,203 in compensation. This was equivalent to 7% of the woman’s annual pay multiplied by 19: the number of years spanning 2017 and her retirement.
The court noted that neither the council nor the agency contested the road’ state. The council’s executive secretary said that Transport Malta carried out paving works and operate works following the accident.
Judge Toni Abela awarded €15,689.23 in compensation as he found both the agency and the council responsible for the incident.
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