On 17 December 2020, 13-year-old Dhenjuen Yogathas (13) died when he was hit by a car at high speed at Furuset in Oslo.
The trial against the man accused of negligent homicide after the incident starts on Monday. The indictment states that the police believe he was intoxicated on both hashish and GHB when the accident happened.
The young boy was thrown or dragged 40 meters down the road from where the accident occurred, before he was hit by a car that came driving in the opposite direction.
– This is a very serious accident, says police attorney Bente Vengstad.
– THE CRIME: The accident happened in Maria Dehli’s road near Grorud station in Oslo. Photo: Jil Yngland / NTB
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The accused man in his 30s admits that he was the one who drove the 13-year-old boy, but denies criminal guilt for negligent homicide.
– He has always claimed that the boy suddenly went straight into the road in front of him. It has been supported by the investigation in retrospect, says the man’s defender, lawyer Harald Fjeldstad.
Talked to police before the accident
One of the witnesses called in by the defense is a police investigator who about ten minutes before the collision had a telephone conversation with the accused man.
The conversation was about the fact that the accused on December 8, just over a week before the fatal accident, was found asleep in his car by the police.
In the car door he had a bottle of GHB.
As TV 2 understands it, the police investigator did not perceive the accused man who intoxicated in the telephone conversation on 17 December.
– JOY SPREADER: Dhenujen Yogathas (13) is described as a joy spreader.
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The man admits that he had ingested both hashish and GHB earlier in the day before the fatal accident, but believes that he was no longer addicted to GHB when the accident happened.
– This is a tragic accident no matter how you look at it, but he considers it an accident that could have happened to anyone, regardless of intoxication, says the defender, Harald Fjeldstad.
The man in his 30s is also accused of driving a car without a valid driver’s license when the accident happened. Police took the note from him when they found him asleep and intoxicated in his car on December 8.
Stuck from the scene of the accident
When Dhenujen Yogathas was hit approx. at 7 p.m., the accused man just drove on from the scene of the accident.
It therefore took several hours before the police realized who the perpetrator was.
Around 11 pm, however, a patrol became aware of a car parked near the Furuset center, near the accident site.
The car had clear damage to the front and turned out to belong to the now accused man.
The man was arrested at his home around one o’clock that night. The police believe that in the period leading up to the arrest, he had intoxicated himself further on GHB.
Because he should have understood that his driving earlier in the evening would lead to a police investigation, this is included as a separate item in the indictment.
– He admits criminal guilt mostly in the indictment, but the question is how much he can be blamed for the collision, considering that the boy went out into the road, probably without looking for himself, says defender Fjeldstad.
– DEFENDANT: Harald Fjeldstad is the defender of the man who is charged with negligent homicide. Photo: Ørn E. Borgen / NTB
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– Completely crushed
The case received a lot of attention in the days after Dhenujen Yogathas died. Two days after the death, a memorial service was held where both acquaintances and strangers lit candles and laid flowers in memory of the young boy.
The family’s assistance lawyer, Silje Elisabeth Stenvaag, says that the family is still in deep grief and that they are afraid to carry out the trial.
– They are still completely devastated to have lost their beloved boy, and are very terrified of the trial. It will be difficult to have to see and hear all the details, and to have to meet the accused, but it is important for them to be there, she says.
Both Dhenujen’s parents and the two friends who were with him when he was hit will testify in court this week.
Defendant’s defense counsel says that his client is also affected by the tragic outcome.
– There is no doubt that he drove on the boy. It’s awful whether you have full, little or no guilt. He himself has two little boys and has sympathy with his parents. He has a great understanding of how difficult this must be for them, says Fjeldstad.
Oslo District Court has set aside four days for the trial this week.
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