A Court has released on bail P.M.R.R., accused of the attack that left the Sicilian Salvatore Sinagra in a coma for several weeks last February in Lanzarote. This decision comes after at least two other attempts by the defendant's defense to get out of prison that had been rejected.
Initially, the Investigating Court number 3 of Arrecife, in charge of the case, and later the Provincial Court of Las Palmas rejected his release and decided that he should wait in prison for the trial to be held. At that time, both courts relied on the risk of him re-offending, the seriousness of the crime and the risk of flight.
However, as confirmed by the Court's Communication Office, the accused was in pre-trial detention at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, while now the Public Prosecutor's Office has changed its mind and endorsed his provisional release.
The accused has been released on bail with the withdrawal of his passport, the obligation to appear in court every 15 days, a restraining order from the victim and a bail of 7,000 euros, which he must deposit if he does not want to return to prison.
The Court has informed, through the Communication Office, that the investigation is "practically completed" and that as the victim resides outside of Spain it is very difficult for them to meet again.
An attack that ended in an induced coma for the victim
The case shocked the island of volcanoes and also the Sicilian island of Favigna, where Salvatore Sinagra was born and where he has returned with his family after being discharged from hospital. The Italian, a hospitality worker, lived in Lanzarote at the time of the attack. The events took place on January 26, when P.M.R.R. allegedly slapped Salvatore in a nightclub in Puerto del Carmen. The victim fell to the ground and hit his head.
Salvatore Sinagra had to be urgently transferred by helicopter to the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria, where he underwent an operation for a cranial fracture. After that, he remained in an induced coma for two weeks. After sixteen days, he woke up.
For the moment, the crimes the accused faces will depend on the after-effects suffered by Sinagra.
