The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has upheld the sentences of two and a half years in prison imposed on the three men convicted of leaving a man in a coma and with serious aftereffects after they brutally beat him in the early hours of July 11, 2022, as he left a nightclub located in the La Térmica area, in Almería.
The ruling of the Andalusian high court dismisses the appeal filed by the defense of one of the three sentenced men —a fourth defendant had already been acquitted by the Provincial Court of Almería—, which requested the application of a "very qualified" mitigating circumstance of reparation of the damage due to the full payment of the economic compensation to the victim in order to reduce the sentences.
The Chamber recalls the consolidated doctrine and specifies that the payment of compensation does not automatically entail the recognition of a "very qualified" mitigating circumstance, especially when no relevant economic effort or sacrifice is proven. In this case, it stresses that no such sacrifice has been demonstrated to meet the payment of 30,000 euros, an amount it does not consider "exorbitant".
At around 1:50 a.m., two of the accused were on the terrace of a pub in La Térmica consuming drinks when they saw the victim being ejected from the premises by the bouncers, which led to an argument near the establishment.
At a certain moment, one of the defendants stood up and held the injured man from behind to move him away from the center of the dispute, although he "continued to shout at the bouncers".
In this situation, the third accused —the bouncers' brother— arrived at the scene and punched the victim, after which he fell to the ground after receiving a second blow delivered by another of them.
Although the assaulted man tried to get up, the three accused "jointly and violently struck him on the head" until he "lost consciousness and fell to the ground", at which point they left him there and left.
As a result of the assault, the victim had to be admitted to the ICU of the Hospital Universitario Torrecárdenas, where he remained hospitalized. He required 180 days for the injuries to heal and suffers aftereffects such as facial paralysis and hearing loss in the left ear.
In addition to the prison sentences for the offense of attempted homicide, with the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superiority and the mitigating circumstances of compensation for damages and late confession being considered, the convicted persons are imposed the prohibition from communicating with the victim or approaching within less than 400 meters of the same for a period of seven years and six months.