Even so, he left the court relatively satisfied. The Board of Appeal reduced the sentence originally imposed on him by one year and, given that he has been in custody for half a year, he will be able to apply for parole in three months.
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The case happened on April 18, about a month after the state of emergency in the Czech Republic due to the spread of coronavirus. Courts can impose much harsher penalties for some crimes committed at this critical time. In the case of theft, the rate increases to between two and eight years in prison.
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He was just trying to survive.
Irena Benešová, lawyer
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The 33-year-old man stole packages of salted and unsalted pistachios worth 2,100 crowns in a department store in Prague 4. He was caught by security guards. He has been in custody ever since.
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The man confessed to the act and regretted it. He defended himself by saying that he had no money for food and wanted to sell the stolen goods to a Vietnamese convenience store. He was said to have only a few days left until he took up a regular job to support him.
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It’s a case
“He is a harmless person who commits petty theft, and only when he has no food. He is just trying to survive, “defended the client’s lawyer Irena Benešová, who found the original punishment too severe. At the same time, the lawyer complained that the thief was in custody, which costs the state system much more money than the theft itself.
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In her closing remarks, she also stated that at the time of the coronavirus crisis, the state did not think of similar people who live, for example, by occasional brigades and live from day to day.
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“He did not take any goods that would endanger the state or the economy. It is slowly becoming a cause, as if it were tunneling a bank or something similar, “Benešová stated.
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The court upheld the appeal only in part. He reduced the man’s sentence by a year, but refused to release him from custody because there were still fears that he would continue the crime.
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The main problem identified by the Court of Appeal is that the defendant is a recidivist who has had eleven criminal records in the last nine years, in which theft predominates.
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I don’t like prison anymore
“The value of the stolen thing is not significant. The essence is completely different, the legislator tried to affect just those people who commit crime repeatedly or for a long time. And the defendant is constantly committing the thefts, “said Judge Miroslav Rákosník.
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He also denied the possibility of a suspended sentence or community service, which the convicted person requested. In the past, such punishment did not help. The judge also reminded that the man last left the prison gates in January this year and before the theft of pistachios was punished by a criminal order for the theft of a jacket from a store at Prague’s main railway station in February.
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“When someone steals because they are hungry, they steal food to survive. And not to resell them. Other than unconditional punishment is out of the question, “added Rákosník.
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Martin V. himself appeared in court only briefly. “I was supposed to start work, unfortunately we didn’t have enough money and I did what I did,” he told the court.
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He also tried to lighten the period when the records in the register jumped on him like on a treadmill. “I had no reason to live a normal life then. Now I have a girlfriend who trusts me and didn’t break the stick over me. I have been in prison for maybe six years and I don’t like it anymore, “he concluded.
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