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Teens sentenced for brutal pensioner attack

Published: 19 Sep 12 08:05 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/43316/20120919/

Two teenage boys have been sentenced to juvenile detention after savagely beating a 61-year-old man into a coma as bystanders looked on in Gothenburg in March.

The victim, Carl-Eric Cedvander, was in a coma for two months following the brutal assault on Kortedala Torg, western Sweden, on March 18th, where a gang of teenage boys beat and kicked the 61-year-old in a crowded square.

Doctors believe the injuries Cedvander sustained in the attack were life threatening and will be permanent.

Seven teenage boys were taken into custody after the attack, initially claiming that the man had instigated the violence and that they were acting in self-defense.

However, the court ruled Tuesday that the two teens were guilty of aggravated assault, and handed the them a juvenile detention sentence as well as a damages fee of 130,000 kronor ($19,816) and community service.

According to the court, the younger of the boys, a 16-year-old, was responsible for the kick that several witnesses suggested put an end to the assault.

"It was like he took a run-up, like when you kick a ball. After that, the man was just wheezing," one witness said in hearings, according to the Aftonbladet newspaper.

Both teenagers denied the crime.

Had the offenders been of an adult age, the incident would have left them with between one and a half and two and a half years’ prison, wrote the court in a statement.

“It’s mixed feelings. It’s disappointing that my client was not acquitted, but the good thing is that the penalty was more lenient than the prosecutor had requested,” said lawyer Per Söderberg, who represented the younger of the two boys.

TT/The Local/og
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10:38 September 19, 2012 by enoecrof
what the f..k is going on in this country? and i really dont want to hear from a money hungry lawyer that he wants a lesser penalty.. sweden is going to the dogs.. its justice system is a joke..this should be viewed as attempted murder or at least gbh and these 'boys' should get the max penalty..
11:22 September 19, 2012 by Grokh
cant believe in a crowded area and no one jumped in and crashed these brats . They should be thrown in jail for at least 10 years for doing such horrible thing.

i mean what kind of person does this....they are seriously screwed up
11:52 September 19, 2012 by Keith #5083
"he took a run-up, like when you kick a ball"

Rehabilitation is a pointless exercise if the offender does not recognise the gravity of the offence.

It would seem, as enoecrof points out, that such an action described in the first line of this comment should have justified a harsher (more accurate) prosecution. If that action is not attempted murder then I fail to understand the validity of attempted murder criteria!

I am truly sorry,Carl-Eric Cedvander, that no one came to your assistance and that 'the system' seems also to have failed you.
13:43 September 19, 2012 by RobinHood
Comment removed by The Local for breach of our terms.
14:12 September 19, 2012 by playmobil
This kind of kicking talent is widely praised in some other places..

Some earn millions in Paris and other places running and kicking at the ball... and there you have to cage the public around not to come and assist..

Its upside down mate!
14:33 September 19, 2012 by Hisingen
1. - "Both teenagers denied the crime."

2. - "Had the offenders been of an adult age . . ."

3. - "It's mixed feelings. It's disappointing that my client was not acquitted, but the good thing is that the penalty was more lenient than the prosecutor had requested,"

1. How often do criminals say 'I did it.'

2. They are the equivalent of adults and should have been sentenced as such.

3. Who would want to have this person as a lawyer - clearly only criminals. What a wimp.

The only good part of the sentencing is the payment of damages, but how long will they have to keep that up, and how till they have to pay? Will the 'debt' be written off?? Who will ensure that it gets paid?

At least in the comments they have been named and shamed. People need to know who these monsters really are, irrespective of from whence they come.

Shame, also, on the bystanders who just stood by. They share the blame for what happened to this poor individual.

Who does not despair over Swedish justice and the sentences handed out. Little more than slaps on the wrist. What a deterrent ! ! ! !
18:46 September 19, 2012 by jostein
Hurray for multiculturalism!
20:32 September 19, 2012 by Migga
These young adults got away cheap even though they showed no remorse. They don`t regret anything, they are only sorry that they got caught. They have no respect for anyone they don`t identify with. The fact that they took a picture of themselves, laughing in court and uploaded it to facebook proves that.
20:59 September 19, 2012 by ironman294
Even if they were of legal age they would have only gotten 1 1/2 to 2 years? For viciously beating a man into a coma sustaining permanent damage to his body?

Perhaps if the courts were not so uselessly lenient people would not do such things.

Rape gets you accuital or just a few months in jail

Beating a man senseless gets only 1-2 years if an adult.

Maybe the corwd nknew that f they intervened they would get beaten and th boys face no punishment or maybe the crowd just oesnt care. Much like Germany when Hitler took over people said nothing. In the states atleast one person would have done something and they were juviniles for crying out loud atleast get one or two of those punks?

Its because Sweden has emasculated the men in that country save for packs of wild animals apparently doesnt matter what color wild animals are wild animals.
20:11 September 20, 2012 by Richard Head
++This kind of kicking talent is widely praised in some other places.. ++

That's great, Playmobil. Way to make a joke about an older man getting beaten up and permanently handicapped. I'm sure that kicking the heads of older men is just fine wherever you're from since it is probably the same place as these young adults. However, this is the 1st world where that sort of behavior is usually met with stiff prison sentences and public scorn. Everywhere except Sweden at least.

These kids need to be deported. I don't care about their families either. Obviously, they are not being raised right since they permanently handicapped an old man and laughed about it in court. Perhaps if they were sent back to Iraq and Turkey (yeah, I know you're all shocked that they are from those countries), they would learn that there are consequences for actions such as these. Obviously, they are not going to learn that here in Sweden.
21:15 September 20, 2012 by Investor612
If they were adults they would have received between a year and a half to two and a half years in prison for beating a 61 one year old man into a coma and causing him permanent impairment that will likely shorten his life???????

So now they get juvenile detention and a fine they won't pay????

It's obvious the Swedish justice system, the product of a peaceful society, is ill-equipped with the level of violence some of its new arrivals bring with them.
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