Subway robber gets 18 months in prison

A Swedish district court on Tuesday sentenced the thief who mugged and left an unconscious man on the subway tracks in Stockholm last month to 18 months in prison.

• Robbing unconscious man 'a bad idea': suspect (15 Oct 12)
• 'It will never happen again': subway robber (19 Sep 12)
• Suspect admits to 'ruthless' subway robbery (17 Sep 12)

At the conclusion of the man's trial at the Södertörn District Court, the prosecutor requested the 28–year-old thief be sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison followed by deportation.

However, the court chose to give the man 18 months in prison followed by the requested deportation.

The incident, which occurred in mid-September, was captured on security cameras and broadcast across Sweden on TV3's "Efterlyst" ('Wanted'), making the thief Sweden’s most wanted man at the time, according to local police.

The 38-year-old victim of the attack, referred to in the Swedish media as Johnny, was returning home after a drunken night out on the town with his friends when he made the fall at the Sandsborg metro station south of Stockholm.

The thief, who had been previously tormenting the victim as he slept at the station, then jumped onto the tracks, took the man’s phone and jewellery, and then left the 38-year-old to be hit by an oncoming train.

Half of Johnny’s left foot has since been amputated and his right knee was damaged to a such an extent that he’ll need a prosthetic in the future.

The thief is also suspected of another crime in Enskede during the summer, where he is said to have robbed another sleeping man at the subway station. The thief has confessed to both crimes.

"I stole the telephone because I needed money to eat," he said through an interpreter as he sobbed in court last week, according to the TT news agency.

He added that he had left the victim on the tracks as he was afraid that he would be suspected for pushing him down.

However, leaving someone to be hit by a train is not illegal, a fact that the 28-year-old’s lawyer highlighted throughout the trial.

The crime has been labelled as aggravated theft.

TT/The Local/og
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