In Lviv, a 43-year-old Lviv resident has been sentenced to an actual term of imprisonment for forcibly holding a minor girl in Sykhiv and using a pepper spray canister against a serviceman. The court imposed a sentence of 3 years and 8 months of imprisonment. This was reported by juvenile prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
As established in court, the incident occurred on 9 May this year on Kavaleriidze Street in Lviv. Servicemen of the Sykhiv District Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support together with the police were carrying out notification measures on this street. On seeing them, a passer-by tried to run away and, in order to avoid talking to the military and law enforcement officers, sprayed liquid from a pepper spray canister into the eyes of one of the servicemen.
When the man realised he would not be able to escape, he ran up to a group of teenagers, grabbed a 13-year-old girl and held a sharp object to her throat. Because of the blade near her neck, the child, according to the investigation, was unable to resist, and the attacker held her for a prolonged period.
The servicemen of the Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support warned the man that firearms might be used, after which he released the girl. The child did not sustain physical injuries, whereas the serviceman of the District Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support was diagnosed with burns to both eyes. The attacker was detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine; he turned out to be a resident of the same neighbourhood with multiple previous convictions for theft.
In June this year, prosecutors of the Frankivsk District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Lviv referred an indictment to the court on counts of unlawful deprivation of liberty of a young child and intentional infliction of minor bodily harm on an official in connection with the performance of his official duties (Part 2 of Article 146, Part 2 of Article 350 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). At the end of September, the court delivered a verdict in this case. Until the verdict enters into legal force, the convicted man remains in custody.
The pre-trial investigation was conducted by Police Department No. 2 of Lviv District Police Department No. 2 of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv Region. The verdict enters into legal force after the expiry of the appeal period.