Prison sentences for burgling a Malaga village home and threatening the owner with a knife upheld

The Andalusian High Court of Justice (TSJA) has confirmed the conviction of four men for burgling a house in Periana in the east of Malaga province and for threatening the owner with a knife. The appeals lodged by the defendants' defence lawyers have been dismissed.

According to the court ruling, the defendants entered the premises in June 2022, wearing balaclavas that concealed their identity. Taking advantage of the fact that the owner's dogs began to bark and she had to go out to calm them down, they grabbed her with one defendant holding a knife to her neck and ordering her to take the dogs and tie them up "or he would kill them".

The woman was forced into the house by the defendants, who told her that "either she did what they said or it would be worse", before one of the burglars hit her on the head with the handle of his knife. This caused the woman to fall to the ground, at which point she was able to activate the alarm button she had installed in her home.

On hearing the alarm, the assailants fled the premises and were picked up by another defendant who was waiting for them outside. However, they managed to seize various items of gold jewellery, a console and three watches and a laptop before getting away.

As a result of the incident, the woman suffered several injuries and psychological problems. The victim has recovered the laptop and two watches, while the items stolen and not recovered have been valued by an expert in the amount of 2,273.30 euros. It has not been proven that the other person in the house at the time suffered injuries as a result of the incident.

The defendants were convicted of the crime of robbery with violence and intimidation and use of weapons or dangerous means, as well as disguise. One of the defendants was sentenced to four years and ten months' imprisonment; two others were sentenced to four years and eight months' imprisonment; and the fourth was sentenced to four years and four months' imprisonment.

For the TSJA, the conviction is based on "sufficient evidence and in its assessment, meticulously motivated in the appealed judgement, no error can be seen, so the appeals must be dismissed". Furthermore, it points to a "total lack of spurious motives that could lead one to believe that the witness preferred to falsely identify the accused".