The tragedy occurred on a property in Boćki (Podlaskie Province). The family was going for ice cream. The 44-year-old father drove up to the house and felt a slight jolt under the wheels. It turned out that he had run over his 10-month-old child. The prosecutor's office is demanding eight months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. They also want the same sentence for the child's grandfather, who is accused of, among other things, encouraging people to give false testimony.
The trial in this case ended today in the District Court in Bielsk Podlaski. The court heard witnesses, closed the trial, and the parties delivered their closing arguments. The verdict is to be announced in two weeks.
A tragic accident occurred at the end of August last year in Boćki. According to investigators, the family was going out for ice cream with their children. Their father decided to drive closer to home. When he started driving, he felt an impact. He got out and saw that he had hit his 10-month-old child.
The trial is over. The prosecutor's office wants eight months in prison TVN24
Prosecutor's Office: He didn't make sure there was no one nearby
The 44-year-old father took his son, who had suffered very serious injuries, to a medical aid point. An air ambulance helicopter was called to the scene. However, resuscitation of the child was unsuccessful.
The prosecutor's office accused the man of unintentionally causing the death of his child. It assessed that he did not exercise due caution while maneuvering the car and did not make sure that there was no one near the large, off-road vehicle.
Grandpa allegedly encouraged people to give false testimonies
The boy's grandfather was also arrested shortly after the incident. According to the investigation, he encouraged the child's parents to give false statements, created false evidence and covered up the tracks to direct the investigation in a different direction. According to the indictment, he encouraged them to tell the police that an unknown SUV had entered the property, hit the crawling child, and its driver had driven away. He also allegedly encouraged them to indicate a different place of the accident than the actual one.
The child's father's defense attorney filed a motion for his client to be subjected to punishment without a trial. He wanted a suspended sentence. However, he modified the motion when the prosecutor's office did not agree to an eight-month suspended sentence.
Ultimately, the defense attorney requested an eight-month prison sentence without suspension, but the court rejected the request. It assessed that an evidentiary hearing was necessary to clarify all the circumstances.
Policeman: that story didn't hold water
The witnesses questioned at today's hearing were police officers and a paramedic. The police officers pointed out that the child's father initially pointed out the place on the property where the hit allegedly occurred, when in reality it was a different place. He also gave the police a version about another car, the driver of which drove onto the property, hit the child and drove away.
– This story didn't make sense – admitted one of the interrogated officers.
The mother of the deceased child was also a witness. However, she exercised her right not to testify in court because the accused was her husband, a close person.
The prosecutor's office wants eight-month sentences in this case without suspension. Prosecutor Elżbieta Bułat from the District Prosecutor's Office in Bielsk Podlaski stated in her closing argument that both defendants had previous convictions. The child's father's defense attorney, Robert Malinowski, admitted that the circumstances of the case and his client's guilt were beyond doubt. He repeated his motion filed as part of the voluntary submission to this penalty.
He said he didn't hear anyone scream, cry or squeal.
Both defendants did not appear in court throughout the trial. At the hearing in June, the court read their statements from the investigation.
– I wanted to drive the car as close to the door as possible, so as not to drag the car seats. I got in, started the engine and then, after putting the car into first gear, moved forward towards the house. I felt a slight bump, as if I had hit a bump. I didn't hear anyone scream, cry or squeal – said the child's father at the time.
He added that he got out with the intention of going home to get the child and then noticed him behind the car. After the accident, he went with his son to the medical point in Boćki. There, he told the paramedics what had happened. He admitted that the father “tried to protect him at all costs” and urged them to tell the police the version about the unknown driver who drove onto the property.
Grandpa says he didn't suggest anything
The child's father said that initially they had accepted this version together out of fear of arrest. As he explained, his father and wife would then be left without help and would not be able to manage the poultry farming business. However, in further explanations he admitted that the story about the strange driver was made up.
The child's grandfather did not confess. During the investigation, he said that he did not encourage his daughter-in-law to give false testimony, nor did he encourage his son to change it.
– I didn’t suggest anything like that, I didn’t say anything like that – he assured then.
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