The two accused of the death of a 13-year-old boy and the injury of their sister (then 9 years old) in an open-air amusement park in Elliniko were sentenced to five years and four months in prison, convertible to five euros per day. April 2014.
The court found the two defendants, the Italian toy custodian and the Greek amusement park manager, guilty, as well as at first instance for manslaughter (conscious) and negligent bodily harm by a debtor, recognizing their mitigating circumstances.
The father of the unfortunate child is shocked
The description of the father of the 13-year-old boy about how the accident happened in front of him and his wife was shocking. Describing the scene where the 13-year-old lost his life, his father burst into tears.
That day we were coming home and the children told us passing by the amusement park "let's go in and play too". We got tickets, a Pakistani took us, who told them to take off their shoes, took a rope, pulled the roller and the children came in. It was transparent, we could see it. He started the game, let it go further into the pool. At that time, I was taking a photo, when I went to change it on video, I heard my wife shouting at me "Michalis air children". As the wind blew them, lifted them and made a gamma, the cylinder rose to eight to ten meters, there was no rotation, there was nothing unexpected, I heard Vassilis say to his sister "hold on", Vassilis kept her from falling. . ».
As the father pointed out, everything happened suddenly "it was a gust, it was not a tornado, nor something terrible. The ball hits the next game, the carousel, I take out my daughter, I see her with my eyes closed, there I saw everything, I thought that my wife, my son, also died. We were alone and then people gathered, I say to a neighbor, hold her and go see what happened to my son. I go to Vassilis, I look, everything was zeroed there, I called 166, they came at 15 to 20 minutes ".
As the witness pointed out, the security measures at the outdoor amusement park were non-existent. "The toy was not tied anywhere, its wall must have been pierced by the carousel. It had deflated. There was no security, there was nothing. A rope, a fence, did not exist, I thought it was tied. The brackets were wrong.
If the cylinder was tied it could have stopped. If there were licenses they would have controlled the game. It operated without a license. My daughter suffered a lung fracture. She is now in good health. "
Mother of the child: When he was taken out he was not even conscious
The mother of the 13-year-old boy described in her testimony the exact same circumstances under which it took place:
"Suddenly I shout to my husband Michalis an air and I see the ball rising high. left vertically sideways and then walked straight. He did not turn around at all. There was a fatal injury to the child. When he was taken out, he was not even conscious, his tongue was turned. My daughter is fine today. I heard the little one say to my daughter "watch out, hold on, do not fall". I am adamant that action should have been taken. Similar games have a safety net. He would not raise it to such a height. It had no air at all. It was sunny at first. "
What a witness testified
An aeronautic witness also testified in court, emphasizing that at 15 to 20 kilometers of air, this particular toy could be lifted because there was gas inside the cylinder wall. "From the moment there was no vortex and an elevation is described and then a gamma course, due to the weight of the children, the toy tilted and made a free fall. That's why there is a rule in these games, to have a mooring. From the moment an entrepreneur starts, there must be security personnel, there must be certification. If I had been invited to this amusement park I would never have given permission, there had to be pool mooring, game mooring, signage. "The only way to stop the lifting of the game by inaction, is to tie," said the witness.
The prosecutor's proposal
In her plea, the prosecutor suggested that the two defendants be found guilty as well as at first instance, noting, however, that there are huge responsibilities of the relevant Municipality. "It turned out that for the present accident the responsibilities of the Municipality are huge, who with complete unconsciousness and indifference gave the area for rent and the only thing he was interested in was to collect the rent."
However, the prosecutor described the responsibilities of the two defendants as enormous, stating that she relied only on "luck".
"It was said that if the weather conditions were not good, they would not work, there were shortages, even the electrical conditions were incomplete. Similar games need to be tied up and after all what does it mean for a game to work if it is not safe? Apart from the consequences for the children, it also has consequences for them. And for reasons of interest they should make sure there are security measures. "Responsibilities of the two accused for manslaughter arise from negligence in conscience as they should and could have taken the necessary security measures and left it entirely to chance and bodily harm through negligence by the obligor".
The lawyers of the family, Maria Geli and Theodoros Theodoropoulos, after the issuance of the verdict stated "with today's decision, the MoE ratifying the first instance decision, condemned the criminal indifference shown by the accused officials of the amusement park for life, health and the physical integrity of the minor users of their business. Let's hope this decision works as a deterrent to similar behaviors. "
cnn.gr