The Court of Appeal in Warsaw has still not set a date for the appeal hearing in which Tomasz U is the accused. Four years ago, the 31-year-old caused a tragic accident by falling off the Grota-Rowecki Bridge viaduct in a bus, he was convicted, but not sent to prison. On Wednesday morning, at the Tibet roundabout, he allegedly hit a man crossing the zebra crossing.
As the spokeswoman for the Court of Appeal in Warsaw for criminal matters, Judge Ewa Leszczyńska-Furtak, said on Thursday, Tomasz U.'s case is waiting for a date to be set.
She admitted that the appellate court has a backlog and that the first cases that come to the docket are cases involving temporary arrest or cases that are subject to a statute of limitations. – There was no preventive measure used here – explained Leszczyńska-Furtak.
“We're just trying to get out of the backlog.”
Judge Leszczyńska-Furtak emphasized that the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, as well as “most courts in Poland, are in a very deep crisis after years of managing it in one way and not another.”
– We're just trying to get out of the backlog. Just a few years ago, we had to complete all cases within two months, so usually after three or four months the case was already within the deadline. Currently, the waiting time is three or four years, noted the spokeswoman of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw.
The pedestrian was seriously injured, the driver escaped
The accident at the Tibet roundabout in Warsaw's Wola district occurred on Wednesday before… 6. The driver of a dark SUV hit a 48-year-old man and fled the scene. Information about his arrest was announced by the Warsaw Police Headquarters on Wednesday evening. Asp. Kamil Sobótka from the capital police said that the man was banned from driving.
According to PAP information obtained from several sources, the detained person is Tomasz U. – the driver who caused an accident on the Grota-Roweckiego Bridge on June 25, 2020. The Arriva bus number 186 he was driving, carrying 40 people, broke through energy-absorbing barriers and fell off the viaduct. One passenger died in the accident and 22 people were injured, three of whom were in a serious condition.
Illegally sentenced to seven years in prison
The prosecutor's office then accused Tomasz U. of violating safety rules in land traffic and “not adapting driving tactics and techniques to the changing road situation”, which prevented him from braking and, consequently, led to a land traffic disaster. At the time of the incident, Tomasz U. was under the influence of amphetamine and had a portion of the drug hidden in the driver's compartment.
The judgment in this case was passed on November 22, 2022. The District Court in Warsaw found that the accused had unintentionally caused a disaster in land traffic and intentionally violated the safety rules in land traffic and sentenced him to seven years in prison and a lifelong driving ban.
In addition, the man is to pay compensation to those injured in the disaster, including: companies Arriva Bus Transport Polska 30 thousand, companies Autostrada Mazowiecka Sp. z o. o. in the amount of PLN 10,000. and for people injured in an accident.
The court changed the arrest to supervision and a ban on leaving the country
Tomasz U. has no previous convictions. He was in custody from June 25 to September 15, 2020 (i.e. immediately after the accident), the court later decided to change the preventive measure to supervision, a ban on leaving the country and prohibited him from driving motor vehicles. The prosecutor's office appealed against this decision, considering it unfair, but it was upheld. The 31-year-old answered before the court of first instance, so under the so-called free foot.
The prosecutor's office, the defendant's attorneys and the representative of the subsidiary prosecutors did not agree with the judgment of the court of first instance, and they filed an appeal in February 2023. It has not been considered yet.
Main photo source: Tomasz Zieliński / tvnwarszawa.pl