The parents from Eslöv, who are suspected of having poisoned their now seven-year-old daughter, sat calmly and quietly during the trial that began on Monday in Lund’s district court. There were many audience members present in the courtroom. Some cried when details of the indictment were presented during the first day of the trial.
About 50 witnesses have been called to the trial, which is expected to last 19 days. Among the witnesses are nursing staff, neighbors, staff from social services, school and preschool, as well as the girl’s siblings and relatives.
A big puzzle
According to the prosecutor, it is a big puzzle to be solved during the trial, and she appeals for the right to take in the overall picture. The girl who came into the emergency room with a body temperature of 33.9 degrees, on the night of Christmas Eve last year, had, among other things, untreated fractures, marks from a large burn. Something like TV4 News previously reported on.
– She has been tied up in a car seat. She has only been fed once a day, in the evenings. She gets the food in an ice cream box, we get the impression that she gets the leftovers. She is not allowed to go to the toilet, describes Ingegerd Jigin.
The prosecutor further describes that the girl was dirty, smelled very bad and was dying when she entered the emergency room.
From the prosecutor’s side, it is not known how long the neglect of the girl has been going on. But it should have escalated in the fall of 2022 and gotten out of hand on the night of Christmas Eve 2022, according to the prosecutor.
The parents’ conversation
The parents sent messages to each other while the daughter hovered between life and death in the intensive care unit after the vinegar poisoning.
“But if I just stick around and don’t care about May here, they’ll make a report,” replies the father, who wanted to leave the emergency room to come home to his family for Christmas celebrations.
The mother, who remained at home with the girl’s siblings, must have searched the internet to see if the emergency room has a routine for reporting concerns. She is said to have then helped the father with what he should answer to the health care staff’s questions.
“There will be a report to social security after this, so you know,” she informed the father.
The girl was alone in intensive care while the rest of the family celebrated Christmas.
The theory: Ingested vinegar via hose
According to the prosecutor, it is not completely clear exactly how the girl ingested the vinegar that poisoned her. But the hypothesis is that an object was used.
– She may have had some object stuffed down her throat, for example a hose, to get vinegar down, says the prosecutor.
The girl’s parents deny having exposed their daughter to crime, and according to the father’s defense lawyer, his client does not share the prosecutor’s description. The father claims that he treated the girl’s injuries in an “adequate” way, explains the lawyer.
– His version is that the girl herself consumed the vinegar, and that they (the parents) were woken up by her coming in and telling them that she had a stomach ache because she had consumed the vinegar, says the defense lawyer, Anders Elvingsson to TV4 Nyheterna.
– That’s when he (the father) discovers it and drives into the hospital, he continues.
From, among other things, the medical staff’s testimony from when the girl was treated in hospital, it appears that the girl had several serious injuries. Many testify that they have never seen anything like it before.
But according to the father’s defense lawyer, there are “very many different stories” from the hospital staff. He believes that the stories differ, for example regarding how the girl was dressed.
Regarding the girl’s severe cooling on arrival at the emergency room, an independent expert has been hired, according to the lawyer.
Millions in damages
The parents are charged with extremely serious assault and repeated cases of unlawful deprivation of liberty, aggravated assault and serious breach of peace.
The acts are to be assessed as extremely serious as the action was reckless and was life-threatening with permanent bodily harm as a result, according to the prosecutor.
The girl’s special representative, Malin Wahlqvist Raihle, has claimed SEK 2.6 million in damages, among other things with reference to the fact that the girl had her stomach removed due to the vinegar injury.
Today, under the circumstances, the girl is doing well and goes to school, according to the prosecutor.