The Debrecen Regional Court of Appeal Prosecutor’s Office has asked the appellate court to uphold the 12-year prison sentence imposed on a man who poured petrol over his childhood friend and set him on fire during an argument.
According to the first-instance judgment, the defendant and the victim had been friends since childhood. On June 6, 2024, they spent the evening drinking together at a local pub before continuing at the victim’s home after the pub closed. By then, the defendant was heavily intoxicated.
During the evening, an argument broke out between the two men and escalated into a physical confrontation. After the victim slapped the defendant, he became enraged, grabbed a container of petrol from the room, poured it over the victim as he sat on a couch, and ignited it with a lighter.
The victim’s clothing immediately caught fire. He tried to extinguish the flames with his hands and remove his burning clothes. The defendant then grabbed a bucket of water and poured it over the victim, successfully putting out the fire. Instead of calling for help, however, he fled through a back window and went into hiding until his arrest. Neighbours were the ones who called an ambulance.
The victim suffered life-threatening injuries and survived only because of the prompt and professional medical treatment he received.
The Miskolc Regional Court convicted the defendant of attempted murder committed with exceptional cruelty, sentencing him to 12 years in prison and 10 years’ disqualification from public affairs. The court also ruled that he is not eligible for parole.
The defendant and his lawyer appealed the verdict, seeking a different legal classification of the offence and a lighter sentence. The prosecutor accepted the judgment.
According to the Debrecen Regional Court of Appeal Prosecutor’s Office, the first-instance ruling is lawful and well-founded. It stated that the defendant’s exceptionally cruel act cannot be justified by any mitigating circumstances and that the prison sentence, which is below the statutory midpoint for the offence, cannot be considered excessive. Therefore, there are no legal grounds for reducing the punishment.
The case will now be decided at second instance by the Debrecen Court of Appeal.
