[WATCH] Prime Minister rejects call for public inquiry into Miriam Pace’s death

Prime Minister Robert Abela confirmed that he will not be appointing a public inquiry into Miriam Pace’s death, despite repeated calls to do so by her family.

Abela argued that appointing a public inquiry would interfere with the criminal proceedings underway.

“When institutions are functioning, you can’t just take their work away from them and place it in a public inquiry,” he told the media on Monday after exiting a Cabinet meeting held in Fgura.

Earlier today, Miriam Pace's family publicly called on the government to open a public inquiry into her death, which took place in March of last year.

The family said that the magisterial inquiry report, published last Sunday, found that the institutions “blatantly failed” to safeguard the lives of third parties.

Abela said a public inquiry risked interfering with the ongoing criminal proceedings against four men who were charged with involuntary homicide for Pace's death.

“If you conduct an investigation in parallel to this case you will definitely have the four accused claiming that you are prejudicing their own hearing,” the Prime Minister insisted.

The magistrate presiding over the investigation cited clear negligence, a lack of adherence to regulation, and a lack of skill on the part of the persons responsible for the project.

Late in the evening on 2 March last year, Miriam Pace was found dead under the rubble of her home after her house collapsed into a neighboring building site in Triq Joseph Abela Scolaro, Hamrun.

When testifying in court over the matter, her husband revealed that she had been suffering from anxiety due to concerns over the neighbouring excavation works.