Two sentences of 4 months of suspended prison and two acquittals: this is how the trial in court in Sondrio for the death of Meriglen Hoxha, an Albanian worker who lost his life at work at the age of 34 in 2017 in Berbenno, ended at first instance. of Valtellina. In the dock Giuseppe Dell’Orto, 53 years old from Seregno, in the province of Monza Brianza; Sergio Raimondo, 49 years old also from Seregno; Vittorio and Paolo Mainetti, 83 and 51 years old respectively, from Berbenno.
The worker was an employee of the company DRD Srl of Desio, Brianza, of which Dell’Orto is the legal representative and managing director. That day, 21 June 2017, he was at the Valtecne headquarters together with a colleague from DRD, Raimondo, to collect a container loaded with iron shavings, waste from the processing of the industry owned by the Mainetti family.
The foreigner was handling with the hydraulic stabilizers that allow the heavy vehicle to be well placed on the ground when the crane is in operation. It is an extendable arm that first comes out horizontally, on both sides of the truck, and then rests on the ground thanks to a piston that descends vertically. The fatal accident occurred while his arm was extended to the side: the worker found his head on the line of the piston which crushed it against the container behind him. He had died instantly.
The four men have been charged with manslaughter. Sergio Raimondo was sentenced to 4 months in prison, a suspended sentence, because, according to the prosecution, «he had used the crane, already in use in Hoxha, in a manner that did not comply with the instructions, incorrectly operating the stabilizer controls, confusing the extraction command with the re-entry command, thus determining the extension of the stabilizer crossbar, which hit the colleague causing his death”.
Same sentence for Giuseppe Dell’Orto, who allegedly failed to verify that the crane was installed and used in accordance with the instructions for use and to carry out the necessary maintenance. Father and son owners of Valtecne acquitted for not having committed the crime. The liability of the two companies is also excluded, because the alleged administrative offense does not exist.
