Maltese soldier dies in diving incident off Mġarr ix-Xini

[CoralSeaMan]

My statement is based on the newspaper report.

“Gauci had just come back from a long work shift,saying she had not slept in 20 hours,however Castillo’s girlfriend tried to convince the victim not to dive, the accused had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalize her senses.”​

I am not saying the decision is a legally or morally correct analysis. I simply assert that the decision is explained by my summary.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

My statement is based on the newspaper report.

“Gauci had just come back from a long work shift,saying she had not slept in 20 hours,however Castillo’s girlfriend tried to convince the victim not to dive, the accused had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalize her senses.”​

I am not saying the decision is a legally or morally correct analysis. I simply assert that the decision is explained by my summary.

From Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of dive buddy over 2020 Gozo accident

Castillo’s girlfriend had tried to convince the victim not to dive, he recalled, but Gauci had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalise her senses.

 

[DandyDon]

She said she was tired but this foreigner “pressured” her into going.

Where is that quoted from?

"Castillo’s girlfriend tried to convince the victim not to dive, the accused had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalise her senses." She had not slept in 20 hours and was certainly not at her best.

Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of diver in 2020

A man has been found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Christine Gauci, an AFM soldier and diving instructor, who died during a dive at Mgarr ix-Xini, Gozo, in January 2020.

newsbook.com.mt

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

"Castillo’s girlfriend tried to convince the victim not to dive, the accused had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalise her senses." She had not slept in 20 hours and was certainly not at her best.

Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of diver in 2020

A man has been found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Christine Gauci, an AFM soldier and diving instructor, who died during a dive at Mgarr ix-Xini, Gozo, in January 2020.

newsbook.com.mt

Per a friend of the accused who is a friend of mine, that is incorrect. Per Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of dive buddy over 2020 Gozo accident

Castillo’s girlfriend had tried to convince the victim not to dive, he recalled, but Gauci had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalise her senses.

I trust my friend's judgment that the accused would never pressure someone to dive.

 

[SlugLife]

Per a friend of the accused who is a friend of mine, that is incorrect. Per Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of dive buddy over 2020 Gozo accident

Castillo’s girlfriend had tried to convince the victim not to dive, he recalled, but Gauci had brushed this off, saying the cold water would revitalise her senses.

I trust my friend's judgment that the accused would never pressure someone to dive.

The documentation about the case and the prosecutor I've read never focus on Castillo encouraging her to dive despite being tired. That's something I'd absolutely expect the prosecutor to focus on, if it was true. Instead, it seemed Castillo regularly asked Gauci if she was ok or to turn the dive, and she wanted to continue.

When people use indirect terminology like "the accused" (plantiff, the former, the latter, etc) is when I tend to see the most dyslexic-style mistakes.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The documentation about the case and the prosecutor I've read never focus on Castillo encouraging her to dive despite being tired. That's something I'd absolutely expect the prosecutor to focus on, if it was true. Instead, it seemed Castillo regularly asked Gauci if she was ok or to turn the dive, and she wanted to continue.

When people use indirect terminology like "the accused" (plantiff, the former, the latter, etc) is when I tend to see the most dyslexic-style mistakes.

I was looking forward to one day diving with my friend to have him take me to all the spots as he dives a rebreather too. But with these laws, I question whether it is worth it. My friend offered to sign a release, but I don't think the Maltese authorities would care.

This man should not have been prosecuted. It is bad enough that his buddy died. The fact that the state has determined he is sufficiently responsible just isn't right.

 

[DandyDon]

Some uproar...

Dive-pros flag up failings in Malta homicide verdict

Following the shock involuntary-homicide verdict against the dive-buddy of a scuba diver who died in 2020, Malta’s Professional Diving Schools Association has

divernet.com

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Some uproar...

Dive-pros flag up failings in Malta homicide verdict

Following the shock involuntary-homicide verdict against the dive-buddy of a scuba diver who died in 2020, Malta’s Professional Diving Schools Association has

divernet.com

Curious if everyone agrees with the entirety of that statement.

 

[BlueTrin]

Also the article seems to imply that somehow in a recreational setting it would make sense to condemn the buddy.

 

[SlugLife]

Also the article seems to imply that somehow in a recreational setting it would make sense to condemn the buddy.

The PDSA, representing the majority of Maltese islands dive-centres, says that in sentencing Arthur Castillo, 60, to a suspended prison sentence last week, magistrate Simone Grech had failed to distinguish between recreational- and technical-diver training, with its emphasis on self-reliance, and had not consulted diver-training specialists who could have provided more balanced expert opinion.

The way it's phrased and described at the beginning, that leans towards implying a recreational-diver could be liable.

It reminds me of people who make "devil's arguments." There's a podcaster I mostly like who will be talking about an injustice, and he'll say something like "Ok, let us assume A, B, C, D, E, F. Ok, fine he's a bad person. But he's not guilty because of G." It absolutely drive me nuts! To even get to "G" you have to get past all of A, B, C, etc... all of which are flagrantly false!

“A buddy, during any dive, recreational as well as technical, can never be held responsible for the other diver, if all safety procedures and protocols are followed correctly. This is no different to any other outdoor pursuits such as jetski, skiing, rock-climbing, bike adventure etc.”

Much better phrased here. I agree with this statement. But then...

“From the judgment transcript, the important distinction between whether or not this was a recreational or technical dive is never considered. The type of equipment used and the fact that this was a dive with decompression does suggest this was a technical dive.”

This starts to undermine the previous statement, because it implies the distinction between recreational and technical would have been the critical component.

I would have treated the technical-dive (and Gauci's scuba-instructor experience) as bonus-reasons of why every diver would presume her to be self-reliant.