Stockholm District Court convicts three people, one of them an internationally known artist, of assault

The defendants have claimed that they acted in self-defence. Based on statements from two witnesses, the court finds that the defendants were not subject to a current or imminent criminal attack. Therefore, they were not in a situation where they were entitled to use violence in self-defence. Nor could they have perceived themselves to be in such a situation.

The court finds that it has been proven that the defendants assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him as he lay on the ground. The artist has also thrown the victim to the ground and stepped on his arm. It has not been proven that the artist acted jointly and in collusion with the other two defendants. Therefore, he is only convicted for his own actions. The other two, however, have acted jointly and in collusion.

The victim has alleged that he was struck with a glass bottle in the back of his head at the beginning of the assault. The evidence points in different directions in this regard. In an overall assessment the court finds that it has not been proven that the defendants dealt him such a blow.

The court finds that it has been proven that the victim received cuts on his arms sometime in connection with the altercation with the defendants. But it has not been possible to establish exactly how he received the cuts or from whom. It has not been proven that the defendants assaulted him with whole or broken bottles. In this regard, the court, inter alia, notes that pictures from one of the films of the assault show that the defendants are empty handed when the victim is on the ground.

In regard to sentencing, the court finds that there are both aggravating and extenuating circumstances. In an overall assessment the court finds that the assault has not been of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen. The defendants are therefore sentenced to conditional sentences.

Combining a conditional sentence with community service is only possible if the court initially finds that there are sufficient reasons to choose a prison sentence. Since this is not the case, the court will not consider combining the defendants' conditional sentences with community service. In accordance with case-law from the Supreme Court the conditional sentences will not be combined with fines, due to the time the defendants spent in detention before the trial.

- "The overall evidentiary situation in the case has been complex. The prosecutor has not been able to prove that the victim was struck in the back of the head with a bottle or that he was in any other way assaulted with bottles. This has affected the assessment of the seriousness of the crime," says the presiding judge, Senior Judge Per Lennerbrant, in a comment.

Requests for documents in court files are directed to: stockholms.tingsratt.avdelning1@dom.se