7 years for trying to kill a man with a machete in Alicante

The Alicante Court has sentenced a 42-year-old man to seven and a half years in prison for trying to kill a 33-year-old foreign man.

After arguing with him about money and certain possessions, he stabbed him in the temple with a machete.

Given that it was demonstrated that the accused was the one who carried out the attack based on the viewing of a video of the minutes following the attack that was recorded by witnesses, the court of the Tenth Section imposed the punishment, holding the accused accountable for the crime of attempted murder.

On November 11th, 2023, shortly after noon, the incident happened in Alicante’s Orán Square.

According to the verdict, the defendant disappeared for ten minutes following their argument and returned with “a large machete.”

He then approached the victim, “who was not expecting him,” and struck him in the left temple with the edge of the machete “with the intention of killing him” before the victim could react and avoid the blow.

At that point, the accused was attacked by a group of individuals in the same square who took away his machete and convinced him to cease acting in that way.

The trial took place between January 27th and February 19th of this year. The accused was initially detained on December 1st and remanded in custody two days later.

The verdict stated that the victim’s seven-centimeter blunt cut “could have caused his death,” necessitating medical attention.

In his statement before the court, the defendant maintained an exculpatory version and rejected the facts, even going so far as to claim he was not involved in the altercation that resulted in the attack. The court, however, disregarded his account and granted credibility to the police officers who responded to the attack scene and were able to get a recording and images of the aftermath, which were taken by multiple eyewitnesses.

Nevertheless, neither the victim nor the witness who recorded the video attended the trial.

Along with the prison term, the sentencing stipulates that the accused will compensate the injured person with 2,060 euros and impose an 8-year, 6-month requirement to keep a minimum distance of 300 meters from the victim. In a decision that can be challenged within ten days before the High Court of Justice, the supervised release provision is also extended for an extra five years.