Drunken assailant from Vsetín region receives six-year sentence, must undergo alcohol treatment
Marek Kurtin (41) repeatedly attacked people in Vsetín over several months. The Regional Court in Ostrava, Olomouc branch, sentenced him to six years in prison and mandated institutional alcohol treatment. The verdict is not yet final.
Drunken assailant from Vsetín region receives six-year sentence, must undergo alcohol treatment
A judicial panel in Olomouc, which falls under the Regional Court in Ostrava, issued a verdict against forty-one-year-old Marek Kurtin from the Vsetín region. For repeatedly attacking passers-by in Vsetín, he was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to undergo mandatory institutional alcohol treatment. The verdict has not yet become legally binding — both the defendant and the prosecutor have reserved the right to appeal.
The information was reported by the website Novinky.cz. According to court documents, Kurtin had long struggled with alcohol dependency, which manifested itself in regular outbursts of aggression towards those around him. Before the court, he admitted guilt to all charges. Crucial evidence was provided by security camera recordings.
The first incident occurred at the end of May in a car park at one of Vsetín's shopping centres. Kurtin attacked his acquaintance — first hitting him in the face, then after he fell to the ground, delivering several blows to the head and repeatedly kicking him. The second attack came at the end of August beneath a bridge over the Rokytanka river. Following a verbal altercation, he approached a man lying on a mattress, pressed a cold weapon to his neck, and then stabbed him in the lower leg.
Expert assessments confirmed that the aggressive behaviour was directly connected to his drinking. Kurtin testified in court that after consuming alcohol he lost control of himself and became violent. In the past, he had completed six attempts at treatment for dependency, but none had been successful. The court took into account in determining the sentence his recent conviction from April 2025, when he received 300 hours of community service for grievous bodily harm. However, he did not complete that work. For the offences committed — attempted grievous bodily harm, disorderly conduct, and dangerous threatening — he faced up to twelve years in prison.
"Six years corresponds to all the circumstances of the case. It now depends on the defendant how he deals with alcohol therapy," commented Vladimír Najdekr, the panel's presiding judge.
Source: Novinky.cz