Paceville club owners, staff in court over flaming alcohol incident

An unfortunate accident involving flaming alcohol, has led to criminal action being taken against four men, including a Paceville entrepreneur.

Lazar Zakev, a 21-year old Macedonian barman was summoned to appear in court together with Noel Falzon, 47, from Birżebbuġa, manager of Bacco Sticks and Sum by Hugo’s, and its owners, Hugo Chetcuti, 51, and his son Luke, 27.

Police pressed charges against all four for having, through negligence or non-observance of statutory regulations, caused grievous injuries of a permanent nature to three teenagers who suffered burns when a cocktail, known as ‘Flaming Lamborghini’, suddenly turned into a flaming spray, as the barman was pouring alcohol into one of the glasses.

Two teenage girls, a 16-year-old Italian and a 17-year-old Spaniard, and a 16-year old Italian boy were hurt in the incident which occurred on the night of July 7, 2017 inside the Paceville nightclub.

The men were further charged with having breached health and safety regulations, while the bar manager and proprietors were separately charged with having permitted entry to persons under the age of 17.

The girls suffered facial burns while the boy ended up in intensive care after panicking and inhaling the burning liquid.

Criminal proceedings kicked off before magistrate Ian Farrugia last week.

In a statement released to the press, lawyer Joe Giglio, who is appearing as defence counsel for the bar owners and manager, said that “this was a very unfortunate accident” all the more so because “the barman they employed was fully qualified and trained”.

Giglio said that his clients were offering “all support and solidarity to the persons concerned.”

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is defence counsel to the barman.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol is prosecuting.