Two Spaniards sentenced Long prison sentences after the death of a German on Mallorca
The judge decided on the sentence. (Photo archive)
Image: dpa
The victim was only 20 years old. (Photo archive)
Image: dpa
The judge decided on the sentence. (Photo archive)
Image: dpa
The victim was only 20 years old. (Photo archive)
Image: dpa
The death of a 20-year-old German man on the Palma airport highway caused a sensation on Mallorca two years ago. The case has now had serious consequences for two Spaniards.
20.12.2024, 22:44
dpa
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- Two Spaniards tried to rob a 20-year-old German on the island of Mallorca.
- They took the drunk man in a van and abandoned him on the highway.
- A following car then rolled over the victim and killed the man.
- The Palma District Court has now sentenced the Spaniards to long prison terms.
A good two years after the sensational death of a German vacationer on the Palma airport freeway, two accused Spaniards on Mallorca have been sentenced to prison terms of 15 and 12.5 years. The sentences were announced by the Palma Regional Court. The lawyers of the convicted Spaniards have announced an appeal.
The two men had already been found guilty by a jury on Wednesday last week. However, the judge responsible has now decided on the sentence and the convicted men must also pay compensation of almost 200,000 euros to the parents and sister of the 20-year-old victim.
The two defendants were accused of meeting the young man from North Hesse on the street near the Ballermann party mile in the island's capital Palma late in the evening of October 8, 2022, taking him in their van and later throwing him out of the vehicle on the airport highway.
Car rolls over the victim
The majority of the nine jurors considered this scenario to be proven, although the two Spaniards had claimed in court that the young man had jumped out of the van himself. According to forensic experts, the German's death was most likely caused by being run over. A following car had rolled over the victim.
According to the investigators, the two Spaniards wanted to rob the drunk German. According to court documents, the vacationer had 2.41 per mille alcohol in his blood at the time of the crime.
The public prosecutor's office and the lawyers of the holidaymaker's family had initially assumed that the crime was murder and had therefore demanded 25 years in prison for each of the two defendants. If the crime was classified as manslaughter, they had pleaded for a sentence of 15 years imprisonment.
The judge based her decision on the previous convictions and the "absolute indifference" of the defendants. "The victim was in the prime of his life. The convicted men were aware of the German's obvious level of drunkenness," she wrote. That is why one of the men was given the maximum sentence for manslaughter. Meanwhile, the second defendant's regular drug use was considered a mitigating factor.
Tip on white van was decisive
The guilty verdict was little consolation for the victim's father. "There are only losers in this trial," he told journalists as he left the court at the end of the trial last week. However, he thanked the investigators and the court for their work.
The case had caused quite a stir in Mallorca. Originally, the investigators had assumed that it was an accident. However, after some time, a witness sitting in the car behind the van led the investigators to the trail of a white van. One year after the incident - in October 2023 - this led to the arrest of the Spaniards. The witness testified in court that he had seen a person fall onto the road "like a sack of potatoes".