Odesa Court Sentences 16-Year-Old to 1.5 Years for Arson of Military Vehicle

The Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa sentenced a 16-year-old teenager to three years in prison for setting fire to a car belonging to a military man.

However, according to the court' s verdict, the boy's actual imprisonment was commuted to a year and a half of probation.

The guy was also assigned the following responsibilities

• periodically report for registration to the authorized probation authority;
• to notify the authorized probation authority of any change of residence, place of work or study.

Around the end of June 2024, the young man received a proposal on his smartphone to destroy someone else's property by setting fire to a vehicle used by a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a monetary reward from unidentified persons and agreed to enter into a criminal conspiracy with an unidentified person.

On the evening of October 14, 2024, the boy saw a Hyundai SantaFe parked near his house in Odesa, took a picture of it and sent it to his curator. The latter agreed, and the boy took a liter bottle of gasoline and set the car on fire.

At the court hearing, the accused pleaded guilty in full, sincerely repented of his actions, and confirmed the circumstances of the criminal offense. When sentencing, the court took into account the gravity of the crime, the personality of the accused, who is a minor aged 16, with incomplete secondary education, unmarried, not officially employed, has a permanent place of residence, is not registered with a narcologist or psychiatrist, has a positive characteristic from his place of study and residence, and has no previous convictions.

An appeal against the verdict may be filed within 30 days from the date of the verdict, through the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa to the Odesa Court of Appeal.

Кирило Бойко