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The 22-year-old man, who on Friday was acquitted of murdering two people who broke into his apartment, is brought in for custody proceedings at the Borås district court in the fall of 2022. Archive image.
1 of 2 Photo: Adam Ihse/TT
Citing emergency protection, a unanimous district court on Friday acquitted a man charged with murdering two people who broke into his apartment. A great relief, says the man’s lawyer Mia Sandros.
– My client and I received the verdict together on the phone and he is very, very relieved. I haven’t had time to read the district court’s reasoning yet, but it feels very good that they have obviously listened to us, says Mia Sandros.
The 22-year-old man has admitted that he killed the two men, but denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he acted in self-defence. The district court makes the same assessment.
– He has always felt like the victim of a crime. It is he who has been attacked and it is he who has had to defend himself, so it has felt deeply unfair that it is he who has been in custody and for several months has been suspected of murder.
– But I can also add that both he and I are fully prepared that there will be a trial in the Court of Appeal.
The prosecutor asked for seven years in prison for murder, but three weeks ago the man was released pending sentencing. Mia Sandros describes the recent period as dizzying.
– So many months in custody, with that accusation behind him and the knowledge that there are families who see him as the reason why they have lost family members. There have certainly been mixed emotions, but above all he is relieved to be home again with his family.
According to the lawyer, the police have confirmed that there is a threat image against the man, who received protected identity during his time in custody.
– I would rather not go into anything concrete that has to do with the assessment made by the police. It remains to be seen how this will be handled, right now it’s so new that he’s out.
Facts
This has happened
On the night of September 14, 2022, two young men climbed up to a balcony on the second floor of an apartment building in central Ulricehamn.
They broke the window of the balcony door and entered the apartment. However, the apartment owner had armed himself with a knife and killed the two men.
The man was initially suspected of two counts of murder, but before the prosecution, the prosecutor changed the classification to manslaughter. According to the indictment, the suspicions are, secondarily, extremely serious assault and aggravated causing the death of another.
Two other people who were outside the apartment were charged on suspicion of attempted aggravated robbery and robbery. An additional person was charged with aiding and abetting attempted aggravated robbery or aggravated protection of a criminal.
In addition to the murder charges, the apartment owner was also charged with drug offences, after the police found 13.8 grams of cocaine and 2.66 grams of cannabis resin that he had thrown out of the apartment.
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