On Wednesday, the Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands will preside over the case of S. G. V., a Spanish woman accused of setting fire to her ex-partner’s garage in the neighborhood of sa Carroca de Sant Josep in 2021. The prosecutor’s office is seeking a two-year prison sentence for the accused and compensation of 25,000 euros for the damages suffered by the victim.
During the first two weeks of July, a string of four fires broke out in the same area, causing significant alarm in the neighborhood. The fires not only affected a garage, but also a house and a van, all belonging to the same person. The discovery of fire accelerants in the garage made it clear that the fires were intentional. As a result, the Guardia Civil launched an investigation into the victim’s immediate environment.
Following interviews with affected parties and neighbors and a review of security camera footage from a nearby business, the victim’s ex-partner was arrested.
The prosecutor’s brief acknowledges that the accused was partially impaired by a problem of “chronic enolism,” a form of alcoholism caused mainly by wine consumption, and an anxious depressive disorder. This will be taken as a mitigating factor at trial. The accused was arrested on July 16, 2021, and was held in prison until November 2022. Therefore, if convicted, she will most likely not have to return to prison.
The trial will also feature testimony from the firefighters of the Parque Insular who extinguished the fire, the Guardia Civil agents who investigated the case and arrested the accused, and the forensic doctor who ratified the report at the time.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the accused was unable to accept the end of her two-month relationship with the victim, which led her to commit the arson on July 14 at approximately 1 p.m. The prosecutor alleges that she intentionally caused “serious economic damage” by setting the garage on fire. The charges brought against the accused constitute aggravated damage by fire.
The garage contained two motorcycles, both of which were completely destroyed, along with various other effects. The damages are valued at 25,000 euros, which is the amount sought for compensation by the prosecutor’s office.
Four fires
In that first fortnight of July there were up to four fires in the same area, which caused a major alarm in the neighborhood. The fires affected not only the garage, but also the house and a van, which was also destroyed, all belonging to the same person, so the Guardia Civil initiated an investigation in his immediate environment, since in the garage they also found fire accelerators, so it was clear that they had been intentional.
After taking a statement to the affected and neighbors, and check the security cameras of a nearby business, proceeded to the arrest of the man’s ex-partner.
In any case, the Prosecutor’s brief recognizes as a mitigating factor that the accused was with her intellectual and volitional faculties partially impaired by a problem of “chronic enolism” -alcoholism caused mainly by wine consumption-associated with an anxious depressive disorder. The woman was arrested by the Guardia Civil on July 16, 2021 and was in prison until November 2022, so in case of conviction she would probably not have to return to prison.
In addition to the interested parties, the firefighters of the Parque Insular who put out the fire, the agents of the Guardia Civil who investigated the case and arrested the woman and the forensic doctor to ratify the report he issued at the time are scheduled to testify at the trial.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.