The Prosecutor's Office requests 20 years and three months in prison for a defendant accused of attempting to murder his son, when he was 16 months old, in Lanzarote.
The man, who was 20 years old when the events occurred as reported after his arrest by the Civil Guard, will be tried on September 9 by the Second Section of the Provincial Court, in a trial that will be held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but in which the different parties will intervene by videoconference from Arrecife.
In addition to a crime of attempted murder, R.L.D. is also accused of a crime of coercion, a continuing crime of threats, a crime of abuse in the family environment and a continuing crime of breach of sentence. The fact is that, when the events occurred, the accused had a restraining order for a sentence that, a month earlier, had been imposed for a crime of injury in the family environment.
He broke a restraining order
Specifically, it was at the Lanzarote airport where, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, on October 20, 2018, the accused assaulted the child's mother and the child, whom he threw "forcefully against the ground" while threatening to kill him.
However, the events for which he will be tried date back four days earlier and began in Cádiz, where the defendant appeared "knowing that his ex-partner was there, in the company of the common child" and "with full knowledge of the penalty that was imposed on him and its validity."
Once there, after having "located the victim", the Prosecutor's Office maintains that he "forced" his ex-partner "to acquire a plane ticket, in the name of the defendant, to return together, in the company of the minor child, to the island of Lanzarote". To do this, he "snatched her wallet and broke the amount of 110 euros, taking over her mobile phone, deleting all the messages from the WhatsApp application that he had sent her previously, blocking several of her contacts" and "telling her that, if she did not meet his demand, he would take her son away." "If you don't buy me the ticket, I don't care, I'll kill you and your son," the Public Prosecutor's Office claims he also told the child's mother, "causing her real and serious fear that he could carry it out."
Thus, it is pointed out that "the victim was forced to acquire the plane tickets and travel in the company of the accused" to Lanzarote "despite her express refusal."
Death threats
According to the indictment, the death threats against the mother and her son were repeated during the following two days with phrases such as "your whole family is going to end up dead" or "I get out of jail, but you and the child don't get out of the cemetery", among others.
"Throughout the night of October 19 to 20", the defendant traveled "in the company of the victim and her son to the Seville airport, where they spent the night, in order to catch the flight to the island of Lanzarote" in the morning.
He threw the minor "against the ground" at the airport
Once at the Lanzarote airport, in the area designated for baggage collection, the Prosecutor's Office claims that the mother asked the accused "to hand over the minor", to which he replied that "he was not going to give it to her because he was going to take it by boat to Cádiz at night."
This, the Public Prosecutor's Office maintains, forced the woman "to go to the Civil Guard officers who were there in order to request assistance, at which point the defendant, acting with the intention of causing damage to her physical integrity, grabbed her hair, throwing her to the ground, where he kicked her."
Subsequently, once "Civil Guard officers and the victim's mother arrived at the scene, the latter trying to pick up the minor, who was in the arms of the defendant", he raised the child "in the air abruptly" and after taking "a step back" and gaining "momentum", "threw him forcefully against the ground."
"Do you want the child? Well, take the child, I'm going to give him to you dead", the accused said to the mother according to the indictment, where it is stated that "the minor's face violently impacted against the ground, about two meters away, approximately near the iron reinforcement of the baggage belt."
As a result of the events, the child's mother did not suffer injuries but the minor did, with "a left subpapebral bruising" and a "slight inflammation in the nasal septum", for which he was hospitalized for six days, requiring "20 for his recovery."
Restraining orders and compensation totaling 121,000 euros
Specifically, for the crime of attempted murder, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests a sentence of 14 years in prison for the accused, with deprivation of parental authority over the minor and a prohibition from communicating with or approaching within 500 meters of him, his home, school or any other place he frequents for a period of 20 years. Regarding the crime of breach of sentence and coercion, the Prosecutor's Office requests a sentence of one year in prison.
For coercion and continuing crime of threats, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests sentences of two and one year respectively, considering that the aggravating circumstances of gender and kinship are present.
Likewise, the Prosecutor's Office requests another year in prison for a crime of mistreatment in the family environment with the aggravating circumstance of kinship.
In addition to requesting a restraining order with respect to the minor, it is also requested that the accused be prohibited from approaching within 500 meters of his ex-partner or communicating with her for a total period of 13 years, as well as being deprived of the right to possess and carry weapons for three years.
In terms of civil liability, it is requested that R.L.D. compensate the minor with a total of 61,000 euros for the injuries caused and moral damages and with another 60,000 to his ex-partner.
Two previous convictions
The accused has been in pre-trial detention since October 22, 2018 and, in addition to having been convicted of a crime of injury in the family environment in September 2018 to 40 days of community service and 16 months of prohibition of approaching and communicating with his ex-partner by final judgment, he has another previous conviction.
Specifically, in February 2017 he was sentenced to eight months in prison for a crime of robbery with force of use of a vehicle, although it was suspended for a period of two years.
