Attempted murder charge against 14-year-old at SiS home in Boden – "This cannot happen"
A 14-year-old is charged with attempted murder after tying up and applying a chokehold to a 13-year-old resident at the SiS home Sävastgården in Boden. The case was heard in Luleå district court.
Attempted murder charge in Luleå district court following violence at SiS home in Boden
SVT News reports that a 14-year-old girl is charged with attempted murder after tying up and applying a chokehold to a 13-year-old resident at the SiS home Sävastgården in Boden. The case was heard on Friday in Luleå district court behind closed doors.
The incident occurred in November last year. The two girls, aged 13 and 14, had been placed together in secure care (Vie). Each had their own room, but due to staff shortages the doors between the rooms were opened so the girls could keep each other company.
The two accounts of how long the girls were left unsupervised differ: the girls themselves state they were without staff for just over an hour, whilst the staff claim it was a matter of minutes.
"I and that girl, we were sitting playing cards, having fun and so on, then out of nowhere she said we should play a game," the 13-year-old said in interrogation.
It was the 14-year-old who proposed what she called the "police game" – a game that involved hands and feet being tied up, after which the person tied up would be spun around several times. Once the 13-year-old was tied up, the 14-year-old applied a chokehold to her, so forcefully that the victim lost consciousness repeatedly.
"And then she let go of me, I ran to my room and raised the alarm. (…) Then she followed me to my room, grabbed my hair and threw me against a wall," the injured girl describes in interrogation.
The alarm did not get through, but staff nearby heard the commotion and managed to stop the violence. By that point, the 13-year-old had suffered a concussion, multiple hair follicles torn out, a black eye and injuries to her fingers.
The 14-year-old denies the charges and states in police interrogation that she never intended to harm the other girl.
"It was like a cry for help, to do that in order to get out of there. Because I knew that if I do that I won't be allowed to stay," the 14-year-old said in her police interrogation.
Prosecutor Moa Ejnestrand has brought a charge of attempted murder. Because the 14-year-old was under 15 years old at the time of the incident, she cannot be convicted of a crime. The district court shall instead determine the question of guilt and the claim for damages.
The facility director Camilla Svanberg responded to SVT's enquiry that the operation cannot comment on an ongoing legal process.
Source: SVT Nyheter