The District Court in Kielce (Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship) commuted the sentence of the accused of fatally hitting a 32-year-old woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Instead of 14 years, the man will spend 12.5 years in prison. He was drunk at the time of the accident. In court, he apologized to the victim’s family.
The non-final judgment in this case was passed in May in the District Court in Starachowice. The court sentenced the man to 14 years in prison. The accused appealed against the verdict.
On Thursday, in court, Daniel C. apologized to the 32-year-old’s family. He argued that he regretted what he had done. He asked for a lighter sentence. Defense lawyer Daniel C. added that the accused pleaded guilty, expressed remorse and did not obstruct the proceedings.
“These apologies are empty words for me. It will not bring back the life of my wife, the mother of my children,” said the 32-year-old’s husband, who was present in the room. Both the prosecutor and the representative of the subsidiary prosecutor considered the appeal groundless.
The court commuted the sentence
Ultimately, the court decided to mitigate the first-instance judgment, reducing the penalty from two years’ imprisonment to 10 months’ imprisonment for the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol. The court found that the two-year sentence was too harsh.
“The accused has not been previously convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and there are no grounds to apply the most severe penalty provided for in the Penal Code,” argued the chairman of the adjudicating panel, Judge Grzegorz Iwo, on Thursday.
The punishment for other crimes remained unchanged, including: causing a fatal accident. Ultimately, the court imposed a new total penalty of 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment.
A pregnant woman died in the accidentKP PSP Starachowice
He drove onto the sidewalk and hit four people. A pregnant woman died
The tragic accident occurred on September 1, 2022 on national road No. 9 in Lubienia (Starachowice poviat). The 61-year-old man driving the Citroen was driving towards Iłża. At some point, he lost control of the vehicle, drove into the opposite lane, and then onto the sidewalk where four people were walking – two adults and two small children.
The car hit pedestrians, resulting in the death of a 32-year-old woman who was very pregnant. A 27-year-old man was also injured. The children who were taken into the care of the family were not injured. As it turned out, the driver was drunk. He had over 100% alcohol in his exhaled air. The man was also under the influence of drugs.
He cannot drive a car for the rest of his life
Several minutes before the tragic accident in Lubień, the man caused a collision in the neighboring town of Młynek and fled the scene.
The judgment handed down on Thursday before the Kielce district court is final. In addition to the prison sentence, Daniel C. must also pay a total of PLN 350,000 in damages to the injured parties. He will not be able to drive for the rest of his life.
Main photo source: KP PSP Starachowice