Five years and six months' sentence for unlicenced driver who killed Anastasia in 2022
Mariana Coșofreț has been sentenced at first instance to five years and six months in prison for the death of four-year-old Anastasia from Hârlău. The decision is not final.
Sentence in Anastasia's death case: five years and six months' imprisonment for unlicenced driver
The woman who killed Anastasia, the four-year-old girl whose name was given to the law regarding fatal accidents caused by drunk, drugged or unlicenced drivers, received a first instance sentence of five years and six months' imprisonment to be served in full. According to ProTV News, Pașcani Court of First Instance delivered the sentence in the case in which Mariana Coșofreț was tried for culpable homicide and driving without a driving licence.
According to the sentence, the court established four years and six months' imprisonment for culpable homicide, a sentence running concurrently with three years' suspended sentence for driving a vehicle without a driving licence, resulting in a total of five years and six months to be served effectively. The court also admitted the civil claims brought by Anastasia's family, ordering the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Insurers of Romania to pay over 1.5 million lei in moral damages. The decision is not final and may be appealed.
What happened on 1 June 2022
On 1 June 2022, at approximately 18:37, Mariana Coșofreț was driving a motor vehicle on DJ 516, in the locality of Sticlăria, Scobinți commune, Iași county, without holding a driving licence. She struck a four-year-old girl, D.E.A., with the left front side of the car, and the child died as a result of the accident.
In July 2022, the woman was initially sent for trial only for driving without a licence. The prosecution had ordered the closure of proceedings regarding the culpable homicide charge. Lawyer Adrian Cuculis lodged a complaint against the order to close proceedings, the court sent the case back to the prosecution, and following further investigation the driver was sent for trial for culpable homicide as well.
Family's lawyer: "The solution was hard to obtain"
"Four years after the four-year-old girl Anastasia was killed by a female driver in Hârlău and four years after Anastasia's Law came into force, the driver who killed the girl is receiving five and a half years' imprisonment to be served in full", said lawyer Adrian Cuculis.
Cuculis emphasised that both the investigating officer and the prosecutor initially considered that the driver should not be investigated for culpable homicide. "The solution was hard to obtain, because I must recall the fact that both the investigating officer and the prosecutor considered that the driver should not even be investigated for culpable homicide and they constantly attempted to gloss over the crime", he added.
The lawyer also mentioned that witnesses in the case had flagged a possible "falsification" of measurements taken at the scene, and at the first hearings two consecutive judges abstained from hearing the case.
Anastasia's Law, adopted following the girl's death
Following the tragedy of 1 June 2022, the Romanian Parliament adopted Anastasia's Law, which eliminates the possibility of suspending the execution of a prison sentence in cases of culpable homicide committed by drivers without a licence or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The law is named after the girl who was killed in front of her house.
"I recall that Anastasia's Law no longer allows judges to order the suspension of the execution of a prison sentence in the event of culpable homicide by a drunk or drug-intoxicated driver", clarified lawyer Cuculis.
The sentence delivered by Pașcani Court of First Instance remains subject to appeal, with the final decision to be established on appeal.
Source: Știrile ProTV