A 27-year-old man from Chania was found guilty today for a car accident in Babiolo that occurred in 2022. Driving under the influence of alcohol at speeds exceeding 110 km/h, he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a 16-meter-deep ravine, resulting in the death of a close friend sitting in the back seat and serious injuries to the third member of their group, who was in the passenger seat.
Read: Traffic accident on Syngrou Avenue: The moment of the four-vehicle collision – Watch the video
Car accident in Chania: They abandoned their helpless friend
The passenger was also convicted for the incident, as it emerged that both managed to escape from the wreckage and leave the scene, abandoning their 20-year-old friend without knowing whether he was alive or dead. Instead of notifying police or emergency services, they went to a house in the neighboring village and informed the driver’s father, who went to the scene and picked them up, assisting in the abandonment.
The father was sentenced to 18 months in prison, convertible to a fine, while the passenger received a two-year prison sentence for simple complicity with a three-year suspension.
As for the main defendant, he was unanimously convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in one person’s death and bodily harm to another, dangerous driving, and abandonment. He was sentenced to 7 years by consolidation, with the court granting by majority (2-1) suspensive effect to the appeal. He was also banned from driving for one year, though he claims not to have driven since the incident.
Justice for the 20-year-old’s family
The version of events recognized by the Three-Member Court of Appeals vindicates the 20-year-old’s family, particularly regarding the abandonment aspect. The defendants denied their intentions but were not believed by the court. The trial took place on Tuesday, July 15, after two adjournments in a particularly tense atmosphere between the two sides.
Timeline of the fatal accident
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Sunday, January 30, 2022, when the three friends were returning from a night out at a tavern in Vatolakkos. The driver lost control and crashed into a ravine in Babiolo at breakneck speed, under the influence of alcohol, on an unfamiliar road, having held his driver’s license for only three months!
Characteristically, at 6:40 AM, several hours after alcohol consumption, the 27-year-old was found with a blood alcohol level of 1.3, and the passenger with 0.5, though the latter didn’t even have a driver’s license. Similar measurements were found in the deceased.
The police officer who handled the incident shed light on the events with his testimony: “At 3:30 AM we received a signal about an accident in Babiolo saying that some injured people had asked for help from residents. We started from Souda. During our journey, the center informed us about the identity of one of those involved, as his mother had notified the police. Going from Alikianos towards Babiolo, we saw a Smart car leaving, moving towards Chania in the opposite direction from us. We signaled it to stop because at that hour in the area we thought it was surely connected to the incident. The driver was the third defendant, next to him was his son, and behind was the second defendant. The boys were dirty, muddy, beaten up, disheveled, and weren’t talking. Only the father spoke and told us they had been hit. After very persistent questions, he revealed the accident to us. He told us there had been a derailment, he told us there was a third person. We asked alive or dead and he said probably alive. Only then did we notify the ambulance. Since they were fine and there was no danger to their lives, I told them to turn back and show us the location,” he said, continuing to describe what they encountered when they reached the ravine, with the young man’s body trapped from the waist down in the overturned vehicle.
The fire service officer referred to how they extracted the deceased, while the forensic report was read in court, according to which death occurred within 5 to 10 minutes from being crushed.
“We tried to get him out”
In his defense, the driver emphasized that “it was raining, we lost the road and suddenly without realizing it we found ourselves in the ravine,” while denying abandonment, saying they tried but couldn’t lift their friend. Regarding how they reached the house in the area and asked for help and why they didn’t call police and ambulance, he didn’t give clear answers, saying he had scattered images and was shocked. However, the Court pointed out that he had the clarity to call his father’s, mother’s, and girlfriend’s mobile numbers.
“I want to ask for a huge apology, I wish I was in Michalis’s place,” he emphasized.
Along the same lines, the passenger noted that “we thought we were fine.” “We tried to lift the car but we couldn’t manage it. It was dark, we couldn’t find the phones. We went up to the road and waited for a car to pass. No one was passing and we started walking to find the nearest house,” he emphasized.
Finally, the first defendant’s father claimed he wasn’t heading towards Chania but was conversely searching to find the incident when he crossed paths with the police.
The prosecutor recommended guilt for all three, a proposal the court followed.
Indeed, he spoke of “frivolous and unproven claims by all three.” “They present a confused picture. The driver takes the car while all elements are deterrent. It’s not simple negligence, he accepts the danger. He races at criminal speed, it’s night, the weather is bad, on an unknown road, he had been drinking, going 110 km/h. We’re talking about possible – at least – intent,” he noted, while also speaking of “criminal behavior after the incident.”
“Even today there’s no sign of remorse. All they’ve done since that day is try to escape the grip of the law,” the prosecution support side also argued.
“They did what they could”
From the defense side, the lawyer for the driver and father, Giorgos Frantzeskakis, estimated that alcohol consumption isn’t causally connected to the accident since it didn’t happen in the first kilometers they traveled, attributing the incident mainly to the poor road network and lack of signage.
Regarding the abandonment aspect, he attempted to counter the charges by saying the ambulance needed 28 minutes to arrive, so it wouldn’t have changed the fatal outcome.
Their other lawyer, Dionysis Verras, noted that “we can’t talk about intent since he’s driving, meaning he’s led to unthinkable self-endangerment, since the first one to pay will be himself,” asking that the driver be charged not with intent but negligence.
For the passenger, Christos Markogianakis emphasized he was the youngest and didn’t even have a driver’s license, so he couldn’t assess the dangers. “They did whatever was possible to free their friend. This ‘I got up and left’ doesn’t hold up to reality,” he emphasized, adding that “even the fire department lifted the car with jacks.” “The moral and legal aspects are different,” he noted in closing.
Finally, it’s noted that the family has also appealed to civil courts for the incident, while the first-instance civil decision has been challenged with an appeal, as will happen with the criminal case.
Information: zarpanews.gr
