The District Court in Gdańsk sentenced Karolina P. and Dominik P. to 7 and 4 years in prison, respectively, for abusing three children and for exposing them to the risk of losing their lives. The court decided not to sentence them for the murder of a child, as the prosecutor's office had requested, because in its opinion there was no evidence for that.
On Wednesday, the verdict was read out in the District Court in Gdańsk regarding the death of two-month-old Maja from Starogard Gdański (Pomerania) and the abuse of two other children. Four people were accused: the parents for murdering the girl and abusing their three children, and the newborn's great-grandmother and aunt for failing to provide help.
On Wednesday, the parents of the deceased girl sat in the dock at the District Court in Gdańsk: 24-year-old Karolina P. and her former 27-year-old partner Dominik P., who were brought from custody. The woman's sister and the deceased girl's great-grandmother, who were free to respond, were not in the courtroom. The child's death occurred in 2022.
According to the opinion prepared after the autopsy, the cause of the child's death was diffuse, exudative meningitis coexisting with cerebral edema, and the direct cause of death was paralysis of vital centers in the brain stem – circulation and breathing. During the autopsy, numerous traumatic changes in the form of multiple, multi-site injuries to the body were also found. The nature of the injuries indicated that violence against the girl had been used long before she was admitted to hospital.
23-year-old Dominik P. was arrested in January 2022TVN24
The main defendants, who are the parents of two other children: a 6-year-old girl and a 4.5-year-old boy (the children were placed in a foster family after their parents were detained), were also accused of physical and mental abuse of all the children, who were helpless due to their age, physical and mental condition, combined with the use of particular cruelty.
Karolina P. was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment in the therapeutic system, and Dominik P. to 4 years of imprisonment. The court waived the conviction of both of them for murder with eventual intent and for child abuse with particular cruelty (the couple took care of three children in total, one died). Both were convicted of abuse.
The court also imposed on the two main defendants PLN 5,000 in damages for their two children and a 10-year ban on contact with them.
Sister and great-grandmother acquitted
The sister and great-grandmother of the deceased girl were acquitted. According to the court, they had no knowledge of Maja's illness and could not have known that Karolina P. was abusing the newborn, and therefore the court could not convict the women.
Judge Anna Jachniewicz, in the justification of the verdict, said that this case is “an example of dysfunctions and pathologies being passed on to subsequent generations and leading to subsequent tragedies.” Both the accused and the defendant grew up in dysfunctional families. The judge emphasized that it was a pity that the case sparked social outrage only after the child's death and the media publicized it.
“These were various behaviors indicating physical and mental abuse,” the judge said, adding that this was confirmed, among others, by the daughter's testimony and partly by the defendants themselves.
“She shouted, insulted, isolated”
“The accused shouted at the children. She often called them vulgar names, isolated them from the world and people,” said Judge Jachniewicz, adding that the children were raised “in savagery.”
According to the court, the mother's behavior led to, among other things, the so-called silent scream. The children were in tears because they had been taught not to make noise in front of their mother.
According to the court, both children were not treated by doctors, among other things, despite having broken limbs. According to the court, Dominika P. behaved differently towards the children.
“From time to time he hit the children, (…) but his main fault was that he did not react in any way to the mother's behaviour,” said judge Jachniewicz and emphasised that, unlike in the case of the mother, the physical abuse towards the children was negligible.
The court decided not to impose a sentence for the intentional murder of the child, as the prosecutor's office had requested, because in its opinion there was no evidence for this. According to the court, the child died of purulent inflammation of the meninges, and not from injuries resulting from abuse. The verdict is not final.
Main image source: TVN24