A man in València has been sentenced to a total of 54 years in prison for causing the fire that engulfed a home where a family of six were asleep inside
The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Valencia heard that despite having set fire to his stepdaughter’s house, located on Calle Pescadores in València, and even having been spotted by police at the scene that morning, he denied any involvement in the hideous crime.
The man, a Romanian national, said to police that on October 14, 2020, he went to the home of his stepdaughter to ´sort something out´- for reasons that have not been clarified.
In his statement, he maintains that he did get along with his stepdaughter and that he, in fact, had even paid for her wedding.
The prosecutor however claimed that he went to the house with the “purpose of causing harm ” to his stepdaughter and her partner, knowing that they were both inside the house, along with other people, and while there he emptied the petrol from the containers and set fire to the house.
Six victims of the fire were left with serious second-degree burns as a result of their injuries. The stepdaughter of the defendant was the only occupant of the house to escape unharmed.
The flames also caused damage to the building estimated at more than 16,500 euros.
A seven-year-old boy suffered the worst injuries with burns to his face, hands, back, arms, and chest. The youngster had to be given more than 13 emergency skin grafts in the hospital.
Police arrested the accused at his home just half an hour after the fire was reported. He was still barefooted, and one of his feet showed burn marks. To try to justify these incriminating burns, the defendant argued that he had burned himself in a barbecue.
The sentence
A sentence of 54 years was handed down to the man. The Prosecutor’s Office had requested 93 years in prison for the accused According to court reporters, the convicted man was also ordered by the court to pay his victims compensation ranging between €2,600 and €350,000 up to a total of €715,000.
The convicted man is also prohibited from coming within 500 metres, or communicating with, in any way, any of his six victims.
