The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has sentenced Rubén H. M. to ten years in prison for killing a man in a drug den in Arrecife in March 2022. Meanwhile, the Court has acquitted the second defendant, Souffiane D., as his involvement in the crime was not proven.
The Provincial Court has sentenced Rubén H. M. to ten years in prison, with absolute disqualification for a crime of homicide in its consummated degree, as well as a fine of six months with a daily fee of five euros for a crime of damages and subsidiary liability in case of non-payment. In addition, Rubén H. M. must compensate the victim's siblings with 120,000 euros for moral damages and 565 for material damages. In addition, he has been placed under supervised release for ten years.
The events date back to the night of March 1, 2022, around 9:30 p.m., on Maciot Bethencourt Street in Arrecife. The judicial ruling has considered it proven that on that night Rubén H. M. entered the house of the Ventura brothers, hitting and breaking the main door of the house, while Souffiane waited in the car.
The judicial ruling states that the now convicted man began to argue with the Ventura brothers and gave the victim a stab wound in the left side, penetrating the left lung, the pericardium, and the cardiac viscera. This aggression caused him "hemorrhagic shock" and caused his death. Meanwhile, the prosecution could not prove that Souffiane entered the house with a knife or that he participated in the stabbing, or that he addressed the victim's brothers with a knife.
The Jury rejected the reasons argued by the defense, which was based on the fact that Rubén H. M. was a drug addict who was under the influence when he killed the victim.
The trial was held between October 4 and 10, 2024, at the Palace of Justice of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria through a Jury Court. The Public Prosecutor's Office requested 15 years in prison for both and charged them with the crimes of homicide, damage, and threats. In addition, it requested that the victim's three siblings be compensated with 120,000 euros.
