The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has confirmed the conviction of the four defendants for causing a fire in Arrecife to try to murder three people, whom they had previously tried to rob.
The ruling, which ratifies the one issued last September by the First Section of the Provincial Court, imposes 21 years in prison on three of them and 20 and a half years on the fourth, who was the only one without a criminal record.
Specifically, Cristina Dolores H.V., Ylenia A.R., Rayco T.G. and José María H.A. have been convicted of robbery with violence and intimidation in a inhabited house and for the crime of arson in conjunction with three crimes of attempted murder.
In addition, they must pay compensation of almost 26,000 euros to one of the victims, both for the injuries she suffered and for the after-effects she has suffered; and another with 855 euros. They have also been sentenced to pay another compensation of 600 euros for the material damage suffered by the house, which was an abandoned and occupied house, where drugs were usually consumed.
One of the victims was rescued unconscious
The events occurred in the early morning of August 14, 2019, and the ruling considers it proven that the four defendants agreed to enter the house and steal the drugs and money that could be inside.
Once inside, they forced the door of the room where the three victims were sleeping and "began to beat them", giving them "kicks, punches and headbutts" and threatening them with knives, demanding that they hand over the money and drugs.
After having left one of them unconscious and tied up, they set fire to the room and closed the door.
One of the victims managed to escape through a window and the other, who rescued the man who had been unconscious, managed to break down the door to escape the fire.
During the trial, the four defendants denied the charges, although they only answered questions from their lawyers and almost all agreed that they did not remember what happened and claimed to be drug addicts.
The Court's ruling, however, considered them all responsible for the events, in a ruling that has now been fully ratified by the TSJC.
