But S.’s statement about what exactly happened that night does not match the injury to the baby. During the substantive hearing, he stated that he had fallen asleep on the couch with the child and woke up from her crying. She allegedly fell to the floor and S. tried to comfort her, accidentally hitting her head against the wall. Then he allegedly put her back in her bed.
The court does not believe that. What exactly happened that night remains unclear. “The suspect has only increased the suffering for the surviving relatives. They will be left with questions and uncertainty,” the judge said.
Less accountable
Yet the actual sentence is 2 years lower than the Public Prosecution Service’s demand. The court states that S. is less accountable, because research by the psychiatrist and psychologist shows that S. has an intellectual disability and was ‘chronically overburdened in an unequal partner relationship.’ To deal with this, he uses cannabis, the use of which has escalated into an addiction.
S. is not the biological father of the child, but has acknowledged her. She also bears his last name. Together with the mother, he has another three-year-old child, of which he is the biological father. He was previously acquitted for abusing this child.
