A man who attacked a woman councillor in the Alicante town of Aigües with a wooden club and punched her numerous times has been sentenced to two years in prison for causing serious bodily harm. She then reprimanded him for spilling dish soap into a cat food bowl that belonged to the city’s feline colony.
The Alicante Court ruled on Tuesday, October 14th, that the defendant was not guilty of assault, which he had also been accused of, because it was not shown that he knew the victim was in charge of public duties.
The things that are being tried happened between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. on April 21st, 2022, when the defendant was 71 years old. The court’s decision says that the then-Councilor for Animal Protection went to the feeder’s location after a neighbour called and told them about the defendant’s behaviour.
He shoved her and her spectacles fell off
When she got there, she asked him what he was doing. At that point, the defendant started hitting her with a wooden club that was 60 centimetres long, which he was holding. He kept hitting her until the councillor could take it away from him.
But the defendant kept his cool and hit her many times, shoved her against the wall, and knocked her glasses off. Finally, two neighbours helped the councillor, and the defendant ran away.
The court deemed the assault proven based on the victim’s testimony and proof of the injuries, which took 57 days to heal. This was despite the defendant’s testimony during the trial on September 24th, when he denied hitting her and only admitted to shoving her.
In this vein, the defendant said that unknown third parties had battered the councilwoman and that he even tried to get pictures from a city security camera to show it, but he said that they were not given to him.
The courts judged the defendant guilty of assault with a deadly weapon after ruling out that version. But they don’t think the crime of assaulting an authority figure has been proven since “there is no evidence that the accused knew she was a councillor or that she was acting in the exercise of her duties.”
The sentencing says that the defendant must pay the victim 4,560 euros for the harm done, 1,650 euros for the aftereffects, and 321 euros for the return of the glasses, in addition to the two years in prison. It also says that the person can’t get within 150 meters of the victim.
You can appeal the verdict to the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) within ten days after being told about it.
Author: Derek Appleton
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