The Superior Court of Xustiza of Galicia (TSXG) accepted the appeal presented by the former driver of the Vigo urban bus dealership, Patricia FN, against the sentence that sentenced her to 15 years in prison for co-author of the fire of a company vehicle, on the eve of May 1, 2023, and in the middle of a labor dispute at the dealership.
The Fifth Section of the Pontevedra Provincial Court had convicted her of arson, for the fire that completely burned a bus she was driving, on the night of April 30, 2023, at a stop in the city center, near the Príncipe streetlight, and He had imposed 15 years in prison.
Besides his partner, Marcelo FS, He also convicted him for these acts and gave him an additional seven years. of prison for the fire (in this case with less material damage) on another bus, a few minutes earlier, in another district of the city, in Tomás Alonso. In total, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison and he, considered the author of the fires, to 22 years in prison.
Both appealed to the TSXG and now the Superior Court of Galicia has acquitted the driver, considering that there was insufficient evidence of her participation and that, at most, she could be attributed with “concealment”.
“Know what was going to happen”
In its resolution, the TSXG emphasizes that, although there is no evidence of the defendant’s participation in the fire that occurred on Tomás Alonso Street, There is also no evidence that he committed any act. set fire to the second bus (which she herself piloted), “there is no induction”, “no act of cooperation is reported either”, nor is there any evidence that she helped in the preparation of the incendiary devices used.
According to the judges, “although suspicions are present”, There is no certainty as to whether the two accused conspired to commit these acts. In this regard, he emphasizes that a missed phone call between the two, the fact that she was driving the bus or that they were a couple does not lead to their participation in the crime.
The evidence presented in the provincial court decision, they added, They only allow us to infer that the accused “was conscious of what was going to happen and did happen”, which, in the worst case scenario, would merit a criminal charge as a cover-up (which could not apply in this case either, since the two accused were a couple).
Reduction of sentence
In the case of the accused, convicted of two crimes of arson (for the two buses involved), the TSXG partially granted its appeal and, although he considers that a single and continuous crime of arson occurred.
“The contested decision did not take into account the fact that It’s a continuing crimeto the extent that we find ourselves in the presence of events resulting from a preconceived plan, executed in the same way in a short period of time, which offend several subjects and violate the same criminal precept”, affirms the TSXG.
SO, sets the sentence at nine and a half years in prisonapplying the aggravating circumstance of disguise, since the accused acted by hiding his face with sunglasses, a mask and a cap, and partially changed his clothes.
The Superior Court of Galicia It also establishes that Marcelo FS must compensate Vitrasa at 64,415.81 euros, and the insurer Allianz at 309,555 euros for the damage. The sentence is not final and an appeal can be made against it to the Supreme Court. In fact, the defense lawyer has already confirmed the presentation of this appeal.
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