The Second Section of the Provincial Court has sentenced the accused to 12 years and three months in prison for attempting to kill his 16-month-old baby at the Lanzarote airport two years ago and for mistreating, threatening and coercing his ex-partner. In addition, Rafael López Dominguez must compensate his son and the child's mother with a total of 51,000 euros.
In a ruling dated December 15, the accused is also considered guilty of a crime of breach of sentence since, when the events occurred, he had a restraining order for a sentence that was imposed on him a month earlier for a crime of injury in the family environment.
Although it was at the Lanzarote airport where on October 20, 2018, Rafael López Domínguez attacked the child's mother and the child, whom he threw "forcefully against the ground", the events began four days earlier in the town of Villamartín de Cádiz, where the accused appeared "knowing that his former sentimental partner was there, in the company of the common child", with the "intention of contacting" her.
Threats to his ex-partner, whom he forced to buy a plane ticket
According to what is considered proven in the sentence, once he found his ex-partner, he "decided that he would remain with her and the minor in the house where they were both staying." During those days and "with the intention of intimidating" the woman, he said things like "you are a whore, I am going to take the child away from you; I am going to kill you; I am going to kill your mother; I am going to burn your house; I am going to kill your family; you get out of jail, not from the cemetery", causing in his ex-partner "the real and serious fear that he could carry it out."
In addition, after the woman told him that she was going to return to Lanzarote with the minor, "he forced her to acquire a plane ticket" in his name "to return together", even "snatching her wallet and breaking the amount of 100 euros, taking over her mobile terminal, deleting all the messages from the WhatsApp application that she had sent him previously, blocking several of her contacts" and "telling her that, if she did not comply with his demand, he would take her son away from her."
Likewise, "he told her that he would harm the child", so the woman was "forced" to "acquire the plane tickets and travel in the company of the accused" to Lanzarote "despite her express refusal." According to what is reflected in the sentence, the threats continued during the afternoon of October 19 and throughout the night of October 19 to 20, when the defendant traveled in the company of his ex-partner and his son to the Seville airport, in order to catch the flight to Lanzarote.
He threw the minor "forcefully against the ground" at the airport
Once at the Lanzarote airport, in the area enabled for baggage collection, the woman 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 night on the boat to Cádiz."
This forced the woman "to go to the Civil Guard agents who were there in order to request assistance, at which time the defendant, acting with the intention of causing damage to the physical integrity" of the same, "grabbed her hair, throwing her to the ground, where he kicked her."
Then, and after agents of the Civil Guard and the mother of the injured party came to the place, 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", "he threw him forcefully against the ground."
"Do you want the child? Well, take the child", said the accused, "impacting" the child's face "violently against the ground, about two meters away" from where he was "and near the iron reinforcement of the baggage claim." Events for which the child suffered a "left subpapebral ecchymosis" and a "slight inflammation in the nasal septum", for which he was hospitalized for six days, requiring "20 for his recovery." As for the child's mother, she did not suffer injuries, but she did suffer an "anxiety crisis" as a result of the events.
Deprivation of parental authority and prohibition of approaching his son in 18 years
The trial was held on November 23 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and, during the same, the Prosecutor's Office requested a sentence of 20 years and three months in prison, 14 of them for attempted murder. However, for this crime, the Second Section of the Provincial Court has sentenced Rafael López Domínguez to a sentence of eight years in prison, also agreeing to the deprivation of parental authority in relation to his son. In addition, he will not be able to approach the minor within 500 meters of him, his home, school or any other place frequented by him, nor communicate with him for 18 years.
With respect to the crime of coercion, the court has imposed on the accused a sentence of eight months in prison, while for the crime of mistreatment in the family environment he has been sentenced to eleven months in prison, with the prohibition in both cases of approaching his ex-partner or communicating with her for two years. The accused also adds a sentence of one year and nine months in prison for a continued crime of threats and another eleven months in prison for a continued crime of breach of sentence.
As for compensation, Rafael López Dominguez must pay 31,000 euros to the minor for the injuries and moral damages caused and 20,000 euros to the mother.
The accused was in pre-trial detention since October 20, 2018 and, for the fulfillment of the sentence, the time he has been deprived of liberty will be paid, as indicated in the sentence.
