22-year-old Rafał B. was sentenced by the District Court in Łódź to 18 years in prison for the murder that occurred in December last year. A man killed his grandmother who was taking care of his one-year-old son with a knife. The judgment is not final.
The District Court in Łódź issued the verdict on Tuesday. – The accused was illegally sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment – says judge Grzegorz Gała, spokesman for the Łódź court. He reports that the court had no doubts that the man had committed a brutal murder and should be sentenced. However, the final sentence is seven years lower than the sentence requested by the prosecutor's office. Why?
– The court took into account mitigating circumstances, primarily the defendant's low age and the fact that he had no previous convictions. The defendant's behavior also influenced the court's decision. He pleaded guilty, expressed remorse and provided extensive explanations, the court says.
The court also drew attention to the fact that Rafał B. had a difficult childhood because his father was an alcoholic. Eventually he too became addicted.
– The court found that imprisonment should be served in a therapeutic system for alcohol-dependent people – says Judge Gała.
The judgment is not final.
His grandmother pointed out to him that he was abusing alcohol
The crime took place on December 1, 2023. Around 10 p.m. there was a fight in one of the apartments in Łódź on Wilcza Street. The prosecutor's office determined that Rafał B. returned home drunk.
– His grandmother pointed out to him that he was abusing alcohol and this triggered great emotions – described Krzysztof Kopania from the District Prosecutor's Office in Łódź at the end of the investigation. Then a brutal attack was to take place.
Neighbors heard screams and called the police. When the police arrived, they stopped the man at the door of the apartment. Kopania said that everything indicates that after committing the crime, the man washed the blood from the murder weapon.
B. was drunk – he had about one and a half per mille of alcohol in his body.
– It was an incidental situation, such situations had not happened before, the man had no criminal record – emphasized prosecutor Kopania. He noted that at the beginning of the investigation, the suspect expressed deep regret and remorse and said he was “very sorry.”
Grandma, grandson, his partner and one-year-old son
Four people lived in the apartment on Wilcza Street: a 70-year-old woman and, for several months, her 21-year-old grandson, his partner and their one-year-old son.
– On Friday evening, a young woman went out to meet her friends and left her son in the care of her partner's grandmother. When she left, the 21-year-old man was not home. He returned late in the evening, prosecutor Kopania reported after sending the indictment.
The man was detained when he wanted to leave the apartment. When the police entered, they found extensive traces of blood and a dead woman with multiple head injuries. A deep cut wound to the neck was visible. The prosecutor conducted an inspection with the participation of an expert forensic scientist.
The tests showed that Rafał B. did not harm his child.
Main photo source: TVN24