The Second Section of the Provincial Court has sentenced the defendant to five years in prison for pouring gasoline on his wife's hair and setting it on fire in July 2016. Likewise, Guillermo Antonio G. has been imposed a restraining order from the victim for six years.
The Court considers that Guillermo Antonio G. is guilty of a crime of injury, although, however, it has acquitted him of the crime of arson for which the Prosecutor's Office was also asking for him to be convicted, requesting a total of 19 years in prison for the accused.
The Second Section of the Provincial Court considers that "there is no evidence of any other purpose in the defendant's conduct than to cause serious injuries to his partner, perhaps even (although no accusation is made in this regard), to end her life." Thus, it points out that the fire was used "as an instrument to injure, not with the purpose of burning a space, an essential element to be faced with the crime of arson."
Likewise, the court does not accept the Public Prosecutor's request to impose on the accused the prohibition to reside in Lanzarote, as it considers sufficient the restraining order consisting of the prohibition to approach "less than 500 meters" from the woman, her home, place of work and any other place frequented by her, as well as to communicate with her by any means for a period of six years. "The penalties of prohibition and communication with the victim and the places she frequents safeguard her physical and mental integrity," the sentence states.
Caused a second-degree burn
The events took place on July 28, 2016, when Guillermo Antonio G. was at the home where he lived with his partner in Arrecife. According to what is considered proven, at some point between 00:00 and 05:00 hours, "a discussion began between them" and the woman locked herself in a bedroom, but the accused "kicked down the door and entered, then proceeded to throw gasoline from a jerrycan onto" the woman's "hair."
Immediately afterwards "and using a lighter", the accused proceeded to "light it and set fire to the hair" of his partner, "putting it out afterwards with the bed sheets.
With his action, the defendant caused the woman "a physical impairment compatible with a second-degree burn" for whose recovery required first medical assistance and medical treatment consisting "of cleaning the burned surface, surgical debridement and specific treatment in order to create a humid environment to reduce pain and promote healing, taking approximately 15 to 21 days to achieve healing, all of them prevented from their usual occupations."
Testimonies of agents and psychologists
During the trial, which was held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria last November, the accused denied the facts. "She made it up out of spite," declared Guillermo Antonio G. However, despite his statements and although the victim did not want to testify against her aggressor and waived any actions that might correspond to her, the Second Section of the Provincial Court considers the facts proven based on the testimonies of the National Police agents who went to the home that night and who stated that "the smell of gasoline was very strong" and that the victim told them that the accused "had tried to burn her."
Likewise, the agents stated that the woman had also appeared in the morning at the police station stating that the husband "had put a knife to her neck" and that, given that the woman did not want to report it, "they proceeded to pass several times by the home of the complainant" until they received
In addition, the court points to the testimony given by a psychologist who attended to the victim, which "does not differ in any way from that offered by the Agents of the National Police Force" and to the expert reports of the psychologists, which revealed that the woman "presents characteristics compatible with a case of gender violence." "There are also the emergency medical reports," adds the Second Section of the Provincial Court.