Underage perpetrators of Budapest arson attack killing father of four may get harsher sentence – VIDEO
Prosecutors have appealed for a harsher sentence in the case of an arson attack at a dormitory in Budapest’s 9th district in 2019 that left one person dead.
The Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office in 2020 charged three young men as accomplices in the case with causing death resulting from public endangerment. On the evening of January 23, 2019, the three defendants, who were minors at the time, poured nail polish remover on a mattress placed against the entrance of the Ráday Street dormitory in Budapest’s 9th district and set it on fire with a lighter.
The flames spread to several floors in the building, resulting in the death of one person. Fifty people had to be evacuated from the dormitory. In a first-instance ruling last October, the Budapest Municipal Court found one of the three suspects guilty of public endangerment by way of negligence and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment suspended for four years. His two accomplices were sentenced to 240 and 280 hours of community service, respectively, for disorderly conduct.
The Appellate Chief Prosecutor of Budapest is asking the court to charge all three defendants with causing death resulting from public endangerment and sentence them to prison. The attorney representing the defendant who set the mattress on fire has appealed for a lighter sentence, while the other two defendants have accepted their sentences.
Here is a video made by the firefighters:
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