Property firm chief sentenced to year in jail for accident

The president of the Habitat real estate company accepted a deal with prosecutors to serve one year in jail after pleading out in the case of five workers who died during a construction accident at a building worksite in 2006.

Bruno Figueras will also be suspended from dealing in any property constructions or sales for one year after he is released from custody.

Five other supervisors of the project were also sentenced, including construction foreman Fernando Cirera, who was given two years in jail. Javier Vives, the design architect, was ordered to serve 18 months.

The accident occurred in July 2006 during the construction of a building in Barcelona when a wall gave way and crushed the workers, some of whom were sub-contracted.

The company has already paid some two million euros in compensation to the victims' families.

Prosecutors are also asking that other supervisors, who have not been sentenced, be disqualified from working in the construction industry for a period of time.