Court hands down suspended sentence in captive woman case
The 58-year old man charged with holding his girlfriend captive in a cabin for nine years, was given a suspended sentence on Thursday for abuse and molestation.
Charges that he was holding the woman against her will did not stand up in the Eksjö district court where the trial took place.
The result was not unexpected, as the man had already been released from custody when the trial concluded two weeks ago after having been detained since early September.
Prosecutors had wanted the man to receive a three and a half year prison sentence for gross violation of a woman’s integrity and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
The case received a great deal of attention when police arrested the man. The woman, who was gravely ill and emaciated, was taken to hospital at the time of the man’s arrest.
The man had been reported for abusing the woman but the investigation also looked into whether he had kept her locked up against her will in a small cabin outside of Eksjö.
The fact that the man was living under an assumed name and had been declared dead didn’t make the matter any simpler.
The investigation also dealt with the officer who had been sitting on a report about the man’s abuse for several months without arresting him.
The matter has been taken up by a division of the Swedish Prosecution Authority which investigates police misconduct, and a decision regarding possible charges is expected shortly, according to prosecutor Björn Ericson who heads up the division.
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Charges that he was holding the woman against her will did not stand up in the Eksjö district court where the trial took place.
The result was not unexpected, as the man had already been released from custody when the trial concluded two weeks ago after having been detained since early September.
Prosecutors had wanted the man to receive a three and a half year prison sentence for gross violation of a woman’s integrity and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
The case received a great deal of attention when police arrested the man. The woman, who was gravely ill and emaciated, was taken to hospital at the time of the man’s arrest.
The man had been reported for abusing the woman but the investigation also looked into whether he had kept her locked up against her will in a small cabin outside of Eksjö.
The fact that the man was living under an assumed name and had been declared dead didn’t make the matter any simpler.
The investigation also dealt with the officer who had been sitting on a report about the man’s abuse for several months without arresting him.
The matter has been taken up by a division of the Swedish Prosecution Authority which investigates police misconduct, and a decision regarding possible charges is expected shortly, according to prosecutor Björn Ericson who heads up the division.
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