An Aveiro court sentenced two foreign nationals this Wednesday to four years in prison for attempting to rob an Aveiro jewelry store about a year ago, kidnapping a worker.
When pronouncing the verdict, the presiding judge referred to the fact that the court considered the entire content of the accusation against the defendants to be proved “in general”.
Two defendants, citizens of Ukraine, 42 and 50 years old, were sentenced to four years in prison each for committing theft with aggravated circumstances in the form of an attempt.
“The crime was serious, it was serious, and therefore the punishment was applied to the defendants,” the judge said after reading the verdict.
The judge also explained that the court decided not to suspend the execution of this sentence because, although the defendants had no criminal record in Portugal, at the time of the events they did not have a job or physical residence. “Thus, it is impossible to make a favorable forecast,” the magistrate justified.
In addition to imprisonment, the defendants were also sentenced to a solidarity payment of five thousand euros to the jeweler’s employee.
The defendants will remain in pre-trial detention until the time limit for appeal expires.
During the trial, the defendants stated that they were drunk and entered the establishment only to look at the clock, denying that they had kidnapped an employee.
One of the defendants admitted that the employee would be “stressed” to see them in such a state and would touch the button [de alarme]which resulted in the doors of the jewelry store being closed and the police being called to the scene.
He also stated that they did not enter the store with the intention of robbing it, but later, while helping an unconscious employee, they saw an open suitcase full of gold and “the idea came to mind.”
The accomplice explained that the employee showed the clock and began to lose consciousness, and he grabbed her so that she would not fall. He also denied that he had had his mouth taped or had his hands and feet bound, as stated in the indictment (MP).
This thesis was contradicted by an employee of the jewelry workshop, who stated that the defendants treated her “cruelly”.
The witness, who was heard via video link, explained that he lost consciousness “for seconds”, only realizing that the defendants covered his mouth and grabbed his hands. “When I came to, I was in the back room, sitting and tied up,” he said.
The employee also said that she did not realize that the defendants were drunk, and mentioned that she saw one of them “probing” the store a few days before the robbery.
The robbery of the Crisálida jewelry store, located on Lourenço Peixinho Avenue, took place on the afternoon of April 16, 2022, when only one employee was in the establishment.
According to the deputy’s indictment, consulted by Lusa, the defendants entered the store and began trying on watches. However, one of them allegedly grabbed the employee from behind and wrapped his arm around her neck, immobilizing her, after which the defendants dragged her to the most private part of the store, where they tied her hands and feet and covered her mouth with self-adhesive tape.
After immobilizing the victim and silencing him, the defendants put on gloves, closed the entrance to the establishment and poured the contents of six suitcases with various items of sterling silver worth more than 20,000 euros into a bag and backpacks. carried.
The deputy also mentions that the defendants unsuccessfully tried to open the establishment’s safe, where other more valuable items were found.
The alarm was raised by the manager, who arrived at the establishment at about 3:40 pm and, considering it strange that the door was still closed, and, seeing the clock lying on the counter, remotely accessed images from the institution’s video surveillance circuit, Thus, it became known about the robbery and called the PSP, which appeared on the spot in a few minutes.
Also, according to investigators, one of the defendants made three phone calls, calling the caller “the boss.” After the last of these phone calls, the robbers released the employee and left the establishment a few minutes later, being immediately detained by PSP agents who set up a security perimeter.
The deputy produced a certificate allowing the investigation to continue in order to establish the involvement of other suspects in the practical application of the facts.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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