Five years in prison for killing his 76-year-old neighbour with iron bar in Axarquía village

A verdict has finally been reached in the case of an attack with an iron bar that ended the life of a 76-year-old man in Almáchar in the Axarquía area of Malaga province. The accused, who a jury had already found guilty of manslaughter, but with the partial extenuating circumstance of self-defence, will have to serve five years in prison. According to the ruling, to which SUR has had access, the incident dates back to 28 May 2022. On that day, the 36-year-old defendant was on his way to his family's farm, located in Almáchar, when he found his neighbours vehicle in an area marking the boundary between the two properties.

The defendant parked his car about 30 metres away from his neighbour's car and went towards the elderly man, whereupon an argument ensued between the two. In the course of the argument, the defendant was "the object of an unprovoked aggression" in which the victim used an iron bar.

This led to a struggle that “plunged the defendant into a state of rage due to the fury of the fight, which clouded his capacity for judgement and willpower”, during which he took the weapon from him. “With the intention of defending himself, he repeatedly struck his neighbour on the head and body, who subsequently died.”

Despite the circumstance of legitimate self-defence, as the magistrate pointed out in the sentence, the volitional element of the eventual intention in the homicide has also been proven, as the defendant was aware that such blows could cause the victim's death, as occurred.

“It is unquestionable, given the number of blows, their intensity and the area of the body struck - namely the head - that, through his actions, the defendant must have been aware of the very high likelihood that he could cause the victim’s death,” the judgment states.

Similarly, the ruling states that, despite the fact that in this case there was legitimate self-defence, given that the requirements of illegitimate aggression and the need to defend it were met, once the defendant had taken possession of the bar, the danger to him had already disappeared. Hence, this has been assessed as an incomplete exonerating circumstance.

In this case, the public prosecutor’s office had requested a sentence of eleven years’ imprisonment for the defendant, while the private prosecution sought fifteen years. Following the jury’s deliberation, the provincial court set the sentence at five years in prison for an offence of intentional homicide, in which the mitigating circumstances of self-defence and sudden provocation were found to apply.