A man who has been sentenced to two years in prison for burning in 2019 in the capital of Tenerife the house of his neighbor, who was 91 years old at the time, will not go to prison, but during that time he will be on conditional probation that he submit to psychiatric treatment and cessation of drug use.
This was decided this Thursday by the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which in a ruling states that the convicted person will not be able to approach or communicate with the victim for three years, despite living next door.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defense agreed that a sentence of conformity should be reached given that the defendant’s mental state supposes “an incomplete defense.”
The convicted man presents psychological problems that are aggravated by being a habitual user of crack, and, in fact, at the beginning of the hearing, a forensic expert, after speaking with the defendant, had to certify that he was in a position to understand the content of the trial.
“He is located in time and space, he suffers from a slight mental imbalance and for this reason he must be subjected to psychiatric treatment to get rid of drug use.”
The doctor recommended that he be subjected to periodic controls and tests to verify that he complies with the treatment.
The defendant acknowledged the facts, accepted the sentence imposed by the Prosecutor and agreed with his defense lawyer and therefore cannot commit any crime for two years, a period in which he will remain on probation, although the judge warned him that if he fails to comply the conditions set will enter prison.
At the end of the hearing, the prosecutor approached the defendant and made it clear that he should listen to a niece who has taken care of him “and don’t get into any more trouble,” she told him.
The defendant justified his enmity with the old man who suffered from Alzheimer’s, “because this man has hurt me a lot, he is always banging on the wall.”
He admitted that he is a consumer of “boliches”, he says that the money is administered by his niece and he promised before the room not to consume again and to comply with the imposed treatment. The defendant remained in preventive detention for not having appeared at the trial set at the time.
The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Prosecutor’s Office initially requested five years in prison, considering him responsible for a crime of arson.
The events took place around 5:00 p.m. on June 4, 2019, when he was in a house located in the San Andrés neighborhood, in the capital of Tenerife.
Next to his house resides the old man, who was bedridden due to his age and condition, for which he constantly complained and caused noise, according to the convicted person.
For this reason, he took a bottle of 96-degree alcohol and set fire to his home and more specifically to the room where the victim was, so it was necessary to call the fire department.
Once at the scene, they proceeded to evacuate the defendant and the elderly man whose life was not at risk, thanks to the rapid intervention of the security forces.
The mild mental disability that he suffers and the drug use cause him to suffer hallucinations and worsen his imbalance. The Public Ministry admits that its dependency can alter the psychological bases and therefore affect the cognitive, volitional sphere and its incidence in the acts carried out as the court today.
