The prosecution claims five years in prison for the Collserola arsonist

  • The defendant, an undocumented Gambian immigrant, lit several bonfires in the natural park in May and June this year

Lit bonfires in the Collserola natural park on May and June of this year, during a few months of drought, and caused two fires that devastated forest vegetation. After a few days, he was arrested and the judge ordered his imprisonment. Now the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office is claiming for him, ML T, an undocumented Gambian immigrant, five years and one day in prison, plus a fine of 540 euros. If convicted, he asks for the prison sentence to be replaced by expulsion from Spain.

Prosecutor Raquel Carrillo attributes to the MLT, which was caught ‘red-handed’ by the Guàrdia Urbana, a continuing crime of forest fire. In its brief, to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access, the prosecution reports that the first of them was registered on May 23. At around 10:30 a.m., the accused was in the Montbau neighborhood of Barcelona, near Nazaret street, inside Collserola park, a protected space.

During the previous afternoon and in the same place, the Urban Guard surprised him next to two bonfires he was lighting on the ground. The policemen warned him that he could not set fire, as well as the serious fire risk that this posed. However, the defendant left the bonfires badly extinguished and in a condition that they could ignite the surrounding vegetation, a fact that occurred the next day, May 23. The agents located him again in that same area. Due to this action, 3,575 square meters, mainly of scrub and white pine, were pastures of the llamas.

“In period not allowed”

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The defendant, the prosecutor points out, made the bonfires “in a prohibited period & rdquor ;, without taking the most elementary precautions,” ignoring & rdquor; the warnings that the agents had made him and “fully accepting & rdquor; the serious consequences that its action could cause, especially when the vegetation at that time was dry.

Days later, the accused returned to his old ways. On June 26, around 6.35 am, he was discovered again when in the same area of ​​Nazaret Street and within the same Collserola protected area. He had lit four bonfires on the ground. In this case, the fire spread over 1,200 square meters. When surprised by the agents, MLT fled, but was later detained. On top of it he carried three lighters that he had used to light the fires. Both fires did not affect more land due to the rapid intervention of firefighters. In those months, several fires broke out in Collserola.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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