The Supreme Court has upheld a three-year prison sentence for the fairground operator who killed a young man during the 2018 Herencia Carnivals, following a fight that started when a friend of the victim urinated near one of the attractions. The Criminal Chamber rejected the convicted man’s appeal against the decision of the Castilla-La Mancha High Court, which ratified the sentence of the Ciudad Real Court of Justice for a reckless homicide offence in conjunction with a charge of battery causing injury. The Supreme Court’s ruling also confirmed the fine of €1,790 and the payment of compensation of €117,000 to the victim’s mother and brother, as well as a €460 fine for the assailant’s son and the owner of the attraction.
The tragedy occurred on 10 February 2018 at the Herencia fairground, when a woman urinated near one of the attractions and the owner’s wife approached her to rebuke her behaviour. Shortly afterwards, the girl and two friends returned to the scene to collect their car and go to dinner, at which point the owner of the attraction approached the driver’s window and struck him in the face. Amid the commotion, several fairground workers approached, including the accused, who struck the victim in the temple with metal tongs intended for recharging the battery of the rides. The young man fell unconscious and died just before midnight at the local health centre from a haemorrhage caused by a cranial trauma. In his appeal, the assailant argued that the death could have occurred naturally, but the Supreme Court rejected this argument after confirmation from forensic experts that the death was the result of the blow with the tongs, corroborated by several witnesses.
Spanish post in El Supremo confirma tres años de cárcel para el feriante que mató a un joven en Herencia
