George Attard, aged 37, and Emanuel Buhagiar, aged 35, who are cousins and both from Victoria, Gozo, were today fined €13,500 each, and ordered to pay court costs, for manufacturing fireworks illegally in a garage in Victoria.

The two men were caught in March, and Attard and Buhagiar, who appeared before Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, both pleaded guilty to the charges, including the illegal importation of approximately 1 kilogramme of explosive powder, the illegal production, retention and carriage of fireworks.

The police discovered the explosive material during a search in March, of a garage in Triq Giuseppe Giardini Vella, situated beneath the Ku Club, which forms part of the Astra Theatre complex in Victoria.

The Court were told that the La Stella Philharmonic Society had passed the garage to be used as a store, to the two men, but not for the storage of explosive material The two men were ordinary members of the Society.

Following the discovery in March the La Stella Philharmonic Society said in a statement that it “condemned unreservedly the isolated act by such persons, who have now been suspended with immediate effect.”

It also said that “any reference to the manufacture of fireworks connected to the Astra, is incorrect.” Adding that it “regretted that, as a result of these unfortunate facts, attention has now been diverted from the cultural and artistic projects that are carried out by volunteers at the Society for the community.”

Magistrate Mifsud stated that the illegal storage of explosive material in the garage in a residential area was, “very serious, not only for the accused , but also for the people living nearby who had their lives exposed and endangered.”

Police Inspectors Frank Tabone and Bernard Spiteri prosecuted.

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