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CRIME

16-year-old found guilty of assault after homeless man’s death in Sweden

A 16-year-old has been found guilty of the aggravated assault and abuse, but not murder, of a homeless man found dead in a Jönköping park this summer.

16-year-old found guilty of assault after homeless man's death in Sweden
A memorial at the park where the man's body was found. File photo: Adam Ihse/TT

The 48-year-old man, locally known as 'Gica' although his real name was Gheorge Hortolomei-Lupu, was found dead in a park in Huskvarna, near Jönköping, on August 8th.

The 16-year-old and a younger boy, 14, were suspected of beating the man to death after harrassing him over an extended period of time. Before kicking the man repeatedly, the boys are accused of throwing objects at the man, and filming parts of the abuse.

The man died of internal bleeding, the autopsy showed. The boy was initially charged with the man's murder, but the court did not find proof that the boys' actions had directly caused the death. Relatives of the man had also requested damages, but since the cause of death was not determined, the boys were not ordered to pay any damages.

The 16-year-old must now spend five months in youth psychiatric care.

READ ALSO: Homeless Romanian murdered in Swedish park remembered as ‘grateful and kind'

The younger boy is below the age of criminal responsibility. Special provisions apply in Swedish law for suspects under the age of 18, with trials against people between the ages of 15 and 17 years required to proceed promptly.

While 16-year-olds can be tried in court, further special legislation applies to suspects under the age of 15. Although the 14-year-old will not undergo a criminal trial and was cleared entirely by the court, social services may decide to place him into care as well.

The investigation has not yet established any motive for the assault.

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STRIKES

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

A Swedish appeals court rejected Tesla's attempt to force the Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates during an ongoing strike.

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

The Göta Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the district court to throw out a request by US car manufacturer Tesla to force the Swedish Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates, on the grounds that a general court does not have jurisdiction in this case.

The district court and court of appeal argued that Tesla should instead have taken its complaint to an administrative court (förvaltningsdomstol) rather than a general court (allmän domstol).

According to the rules regulating the Transport Agency’s role in issuing licence plates in Sweden, their decisions should be appealed to an administrative court – a separate part of the court system which tries cases involving a Swedish public authority, rather than criminal cases or disputes between individuals which are tried by the general courts.

The dispute arose after postal service Postnord, in solidarity with a major strike by the Swedish metalworkers’ union, refused to deliver licence plates to Tesla, and the Transport Agency argued it wasn’t their responsibility to get the plates to Tesla in some other way.

The strike against Tesla has been going on for almost seven months.

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