Two Dead Children in Fire: Mother Receives Nine Months Probation

The five-year-old son of the Czech citizen allegedly got hold of a lighter in the family's apartment in Gmünd, Lower Austria, in April and started a fire while the woman was sleeping after consuming drugs the previous day. The boy and his one-year-old brother inhaled smoke gases and died. The verdict is not legally binding.

The mother of the two boys, who was also seriously injured, was transported to the hospital by emergency helicopter after the incident on April 26. According to the results of the fire investigation, the fire was caused by an open flame.

According to later findings by the public prosecutor's office, the accused allegedly kept a functional pipe lighter in a bathroom cabinet in her apartment. This was apparently accessible to the five-year-old, who is believed to have played with it in the children's room and started the fire. The woman "failed to exercise the required care and attention," emphasized the prosecutor in her opening statement.

Boys Inhaled Smoke Gases

The 25-year-old is also said to have not adequately supervised her children. The prosecution cited as a reason that the woman, who was not represented by a lawyer, allegedly consumed a THC-containing drug as well as methamphetamine and amphetamine the previous day, and thus "due to a reduction in psychophysical performance" slept during the day. The five-year-old and his one-year-old brother inhaled the resulting smoke gases and died. A neighbor also suffered a mild smoke inhalation injury.

"I do not feel guilty," the 25-year-old stated regarding the allegations, according to the interpreter. She said she fell asleep in the morning of April 26 with her youngest boy, and the five-year-old was also lying in bed with her. "When I woke up, there was smoke everywhere. I couldn't see anything," said the accused. "I called for the children, ran outside the house, and screamed." The fire department arrived around 11:30 a.m.

Drug Use Once a Month

She wasn't particularly tired that day. "I had no reason to sleep deeply." Drug use generally occurred once a month, but the children were always with their grandmother, said the Czech woman. "One or two days" before April 26, she had also taken drugs, but not on the evening before. The alleged monthly drug abuse was contradicted by the child's father. "She consumed full throttle," said the man, who did not live in the same household as the family.

Currently, the 25-year-old lives with her sister. She is "undergoing psychological treatment," the accused stated. Already in February, the defendant was conditionally sentenced to six months in Krems for false testimony. A revocation was waived here, but the probation period in this case was extended to five years.

Judge: Incident "Hard to Understand and Process"

The single judge particularly highlighted the personal impact on the accused in the reasoning for the verdict: "You have already suffered the highest penalty." There is a fundamentally confessing responsibility, but no remorseful confession. The judge explained this by saying that it is "hard to understand and process" that one might "perhaps bear some responsibility" in such an incident.

The 25-year-old was convicted not only of negligent homicide but also of negligent bodily harm due to the neighbor's mild smoke inhalation. In general, the single judge considered "notably negligent behavior" as aggravating in terms of sentencing. Additionally, the concurrence of two offenses and the commission of the act during the probation period were taken into account.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.