Czech Republic: Youths who fatally assaulted homeless man get five to 10 years in prison

On Friday the Regional Court in Hradec Králové sentenced six youths to between five and 10 years in prison for attacking two homeless people in Pardubice in May 2010. One of the victims of the brutal attack later died. The verdict has not yet taken effect. Some of the youths immediately appealed while others are considering whether to appeal.

Two of the youths were sentenced to 10 years in prison, three of them were translated to eight years in prison, and one who was a juvenile at the time of the attack will serve five years in prison. Two of the assailants have also been ordered to pay CZK 240 000 to the son of the deceased man.

Police reported that the youths had been drinking alcohol, after which they attacked both men in the Tyršový Gardens in the center of Pardubice, where they beat and kicked them. After the assault, the six defendants left the men lying prone at the scene. After an hour they returned and saw their victims were lying still on the ground. They started to kick them again and urinated on them. Police officers later found the victims, one of whom died as a result of his injuries.

Anna Bímová, the judge presiding over the trial, said today that the attack by the group of six youths had been barbaric, devastating, and felonious. “The assailants were under the influence of alcohol and wanted to fight. The victims simply did not provoke them in any way but were attacked nonetheless,” Bímová said. In her view, the youths had to have understood that attacking a man’s head could cause serious injury. The case against the youths was even clearer because they did not call for assistance even though they returned to look at their victims. “Moreover, they also humiliated them when two of the assailants urinated on them,” Bímová said.

State prosecutor Milan Šimek told journalists today that the group of youths had been looking for a fight. “They first attacked a different group of people who fought them off. They were frustrated by that defeat and wanted to demonstrate their strength on someone else,” Šimek said.