Maltese divers have expressed relief after a judge overturned the conviction of Arthur Castillo for the involuntary manslaughter of his dive buddy, Christine Gauci, who died after getting into difficulties during a dive at Mġarr ix-Xini in Gozo, in January 2020.
Castillo’s conviction caused an outcry among the Maltese scuba diving community, who feared that the judgement set a precedent that would lead other divers to consider diving without buddies, and could potentially have a deleterious effect on Malta’s dive tourism industry.
Gauci, a scuba diving instructor and Armed Forces Malta (AFM) soldier, had been diving with Castillo – a long-term dive buddy and technical diving instructor – when she experienced buoyancy control issues which eventually led her into a rapid, uncontrolled ascent. She was found face-down at the surface with blood frothing from her mouth.
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During the investigation into Gauci’s death, it was found that she was wearing an ill-fitting drysuit with a faulty inflator mechanism and she had complained of being tired prior to the dive, following a 24-hour shift at work. Together with the buoyancy problems, Gauci had become entangled in an abandoned fishing net while swimming through a small cave, and although Castillo had asked at various points if she wanted to end the dive, he told the court that Ms Gauci had repeatedly signalled that she wished to continue.
Gauci was certified as having ‘died from natural causes, namely seawater drowning and coronary artery atheroma’. One of her coronary arteries was found to be occluded by 80 per cent, which could have caused cardiac-related problems resulting in a loss of consciousness underwater, which led to her uncontrolled ascent.
Despite several attempts by Castillo to help his buddy during the dive, the magistrate during the initial trial ruled that he had failed to provide appropriate assistance during the final part of the dive, leading to the judgement that he had involuntarily caused Gauci’s death through negligence.
On 22 February, the Court of Criminal Appeal cleared Mr Castillo of criminal responsibility for Ms Gauci’s death, ruling that he had done everything he could have reasonably been expected to do in the circumstances.
In her ruling, Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that while the buddy system was used by divers to ensure assistance was available during a dive, it did not mean that divers are responsible for each other’s actions. Justice Herrera ruled that Castillo ‘had not been in any way negligent in his actions’, and said that arterial narrowing which was discovered during Ms Gauci’s autopsy ‘was not foreseeable.’
The court also noted that, while Castillo had come to Ms Gauci’s aid several times during the dive, had he tried to follow her during the final, rapid ascent, ‘there may have been two fatalities, not one.’
