The Lisbon Court of Appeal confirmed and increased to six years the effective prison sentence imposed on Madeiran singer Rúben Aguiar, convicted of attempted qualified homicide after a hit-and-run.
The ruling, cited by Correio da Manhã , states that “we have no doubt that the defendant intended to run over the victim” and describes that the singer “continued his life indifferent to the damage he had caused”.
The decision confirms the initial five-and-a-half-year sentence handed down in April by the Almada Court, where the singer was found guilty of serious and aggravated assaults on physical integrity. However, the Court of Appeal decided to review the sentence and accept the Public Prosecutor’s request for the musician to be convicted of attempted aggravated murder, a crime with a higher criminal scope.
Judges Ana Guerreiro da Silva, Elisa Marques da Silva and magistrate Alfredo Gameiro Costa, who signed the ruling, rejected the defendant’s defense, stating that “it is not credible that someone who runs over a person with their car does not realize what they did. The kerb climb was clearly intentional.”
Rúben Aguiar remains under house arrest until the case is final. The decision of the Court of Appeal is final, since a sentence of less than eight years does not allow an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice, having been confirmed by a higher court.