Family of man fatally tasered in 2020 demand compensation from police, doctors
Family of man who died after being tasered and tranquilised in 2020 is suing the police and medical authorities for negligence, lack of skill, and failure to follow regulations

The family of a man who died after he was tasered by the police have filed a case against the Police Commissioner and the government’s Principal Medical Officer, claiming civil damages for what they say is negligence, unskillfulness and failing to follow regulations by the officers and doctors involved in the fatal incident.
48-year-old Ronnie Ghiller died of a heart attack in May 2020, while being subdued by law enforcement officers, who were responding to a report of a disturbance near his home in Żabbar.
In the immediate aftermath of Ghiller’s death, the police had issued a statement claiming that the man had been aggressive towards a doctor while at the Paola Health Centre. Ghiller had been tasered by the police, before being administered a tranquiliser by a polyclinic doctor, after which he had lost consciousness. He was taken to hospital, where he died a short while later.
Ghiller had refused to comply with orders given by police officers who were dispatched to his residence in Żabbar, following reports that he was throwing mud at passersby. A post-mortem established that Ghiller had taken cocaine not long before the incident. It emerged that he had been struggling with mental health problems at the time.
His relatives are reported to have observed that only cocaine toxicity and taser exposure were listed as the cause of death on Ghiller’s death certificate, with no mention being made of the tranquiliser injection.
A magisterial inquiry later established that the police had followed the Standard Operating Procedure for the use of Conducted Electrical Weapons in force at the time, and cleared them of criminal liability over Ghiller's death.
The judicial letter, signed by lawyers Kris Busietta and Jason Azzopardi, calls upon the Commissioner of Police and the Principal Medical Officer to compensate Ghiller’s family in the next 3 days.