In September last year, 23-year-old Sunniva Borgen was found seriously injured in her own home in Åsane in Bergen.
The damage was so great that she died after a few days in the hospital.
Her ex boyfriend was recently convicted of the murder. She had recognized him she darkened for him and that he attacked her with a knife.
In the trial against the 30-year-old, it emerged that he used a total of four knives in the attack and that Borgen was exposed to nearly 50 knife wounds.
It is now clear that he is appealing the district court ruling. The defender confirms this to NRK.
I think 17 years is too much
Defense attorney Torbjørn Sognefest and former lover believe the sentence is too severe. They are confronted with what has been common legal practice in Norway in the past.
– The convict has chosen to appeal the sentence. It’s a limited appeal, Sognefest tells NRK.
Defending Torbjørn Sognefest and family assistance lawyer Beate Hamre from court days. There may now be a new judicial round in the Borgen case.
Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / NRK
This means that the 30-year-old is only appealing the actual length of the sentence, not the question of whether or not he is guilty.
Prosecutor Eirik Stolt-Nielsen called the murder “bestial” and asked for 16 years in prison for that charge. The reason: the murder was not provoked.
In the ruling, the district court judge examined the course of events in great detail.
In aggravating circumstances, the court pointed out that the convict left her without calling an ambulance and that he was acting out when the police arrived. The murder is also described as very brutal.
“The defendant changed the knife three times because the stab wounds were so severe that the knives were destroyed,” the court notes in its discussion of punishment.
In the ruling, the district court refers to a 2017 Supreme Court ruling, in which one person was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Then they deduct a year for the 30-year-old’s confession and thus ended up with 17 years in prison for the murder of Borgen.
Calling it “a new level of punishment”
In the district court, the defendant argued that 15 years’ imprisonment was an appropriate punishment.
– The punishment that the district court has imposed is, in our opinion, not in accordance with the jurisprudence. This becomes clear when the district court issued a harsher sentence than the prosecutor claimed, says Sognefest on the plea, before adding:
– If a new penalty level for murder is to be established in Norway, this should be done after a signal from the legislator or the Supreme Court.
Sunniva Borgen’s family was relieved after the verdict.
– They are relieved that the case is closed, even though they will always live with the tragedy and the loss of Sunniva, lawyer Beate Hamre told NRK when the case came out.
