"The time has come to raise the level of punishment": the punishment of a defendant for setting fire to a showroom in the north was increased

The defendant's imprisonment was extended by 2 years and 9 months, after the Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor's appeal.

The arson incident caused damage of NIS 85,000, but there were no casualties except for the defendant himself who was burned on his hand.

"The punishment did not reflect the determination with which to act against the crime of arson"

Eli Ashkenazi

22/08/2022

Monday, August 22, 2022, 01:12 Updated: 09:30

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The imprisonment of a person accused of setting fire to a car showroom was extended by two years and nine months, and he is expected to serve five years in prison.

This is what the Supreme Court ruled, after an appeal by the prosecutor's office.

In the case, which happened in October 2020, the accused arrived at the "Lis Car" car showroom in the north of the country together with two other people.

Within minutes, he poured 16 liters of gasoline on the show cars and set them on fire.

As a result of the arson, three vehicles were burned, as well as the showroom itself, and damage was caused to the place, measured at more than a million shekels.

No one was injured in the incident, except for the defendant himself, who was burned by his hands.

In the first sentence, determined by the district court in Nazareth - the accused was convicted of committing crimes of arson, obstruction of justice and more.

He was sentenced to 27 months in prison, a suspended sentence and compensation to the showroom in the amount of NIS 85,000.

After that, and in view of the sentence, the prosecutor's office increased his sentence to five years in prison.

This is taking into account the rule according to which there is no way for the appellate court to exhaust the punishment, and even though the damages of the act were only property damages.

"The punishment meted out to the appellant in court does not reflect the determination with which action must be taken in the face of the crime of arson. The time has come to significantly raise the level of punishment for crimes of arson, when the punishment is the message against the violent criminal message of the act of arson," it said.

The defendant's punishment was aggravated (photo: screenshot, C)

In view of the claim that the defendant had no motive to set fire to that business, the judges wrote in their decision: "On the contrary, when we came to the conclusion that the defendant almost set himself on fire but had no motive, while others have an interest in harassing the business, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the defendant served only as a messenger For this purpose, the phenomenon of "protection" will be mentioned, in which criminals demand "patronage fees" from business owners, in order to "secure" their businesses. In this way, these parties carry out their plot through others, without directly "dirtying" their hands. Therefore, the fact that so-and-so commits arson , when he himself has no motive, is not surprising at all."

The Supreme Court even added and emphasized the danger posed to the public by arson offenses and the consequences of the acts, noting as follows: "The act of arson creates a situation and establishes a risk over which a person has no control - fire. Much has been written about the dangers inherent in the offense of arson. The fire can spread within seconds and minutes, causing damage It is mighty to acquire, and to die. It does not distinguish between someone who was involved in some conflict - the 'target' of the operation, and an unlucky third party who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is not for nothing that the phrase 'like a wildfire' found its place in our language - fire has the potential to destroy And destruction. The person who commits the crime of arson actually takes into account that from the moment the match is thrown, another variable enters the picture, over which he has no control and that the potential damage from it is as wide as the scope of the fire."

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