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Court upholds sentence for subway robber

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Court upholds sentence for subway robber

A Swedish court upheld an 18-month prison sentence for the 28-year-old man who robbed a drunken man who lay passed out on a Stockholm subway track and left him to have his legs mangled by a train.

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The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm also confirmed the 5,000 kronor ($765) in damages that the 28 year-old had been ordered to pay to the 38-year-old victim.

The robber, a Tunisian citizen, will be deported upon the completion of his prison sentence, and will then be barred from re-entering Sweden for five years.

However, the court did not uphold the prosecutor’s demand for a tougher sentence.

The prosecutor had asked the appeals court for a three and a half-year prison sentence and 10,000 kronor in damages.

Video surveillance footage of the incident shocked Sweden earlier this year, showing the victim staggering on a subway platform before losing his balance and falling face-first onto the tracks, where he lay

unconscious.

The robber is then seen jumping onto the tracks and stealing the man's mobile phone, a gold chain, a small bag and 1,500 kronor in cash before calmly leaving the scene.

Seven minutes later, a subway train enters the station. The driver slams on the brakes upon seeing the drunk man on the tracks, but not in time to avoid driving over his legs, causing him to lose a foot and suffer serious knee injury.

In court the robber explained that he had needed money to pay for food and rent. He explained that he had not helped his victim because he feared he would be suspected of having pushed him on to the tracks.

"Had I known there were cameras I would not have robbed him. I would have helped him," he said.

AFP/The Local/nr

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