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A Murcia court has cleared a man of two homicide counts after finding he acted in self-defence when he shot dead two attackers during a home invasion in Cartagena in 2021.
The Sección Quinta of the Provincial Court in Cartagena said the defendant opened fire only to protect his life and physical integrity after a group forced its way into his home in the Las 600 area of the city, according to a statement from the regional high court.
What the court decided
The ruling acquits the man of the two homicide charges under the full self-defence exemption in Spain’s criminal code. He was also convicted of drug trafficking and unlawful possession of weapons, while seven other defendants accepted deals over offences linked to the same incident.
According to the proven facts accepted by the parties, the dispute began weeks before the shooting, when one of the accused, who was in prison at the time, demanded weekly payments from the defendant to allow him to keep selling drugs. When the man refused, he was warned that others would be sent to harm him and close down the premises where he was operating.
The night of the shooting
On 6 November 2021, the court said, several members of the group, some of them masked and armed, entered the property without permission at about 9.15pm. They held one person inside while they beat the man they had gone there to extort.
One of the assailants then demanded €3,000 every Monday for him to continue selling drugs or, alternatively, that he buy the substances from the clan. When he refused again, a gunman shot him from around two metres away, causing an abdominal wound.
As at least two attackers moved towards the injured man, and another was heard shouting to finish him off, he picked up a pistol he kept under a sofa cushion and fired several shots, the ruling said. Two of the attackers were hit. One died at the scene and the other later died in hospital after a gunshot wound to the head.
The court said the accused had acted with the sole intention of protecting himself. It also sentenced him to two years in prison and a fine of €14,299.77 for drug trafficking, and to one year in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm.
The other seven defendants received lower sentences after reaching agreements with prosecutors, including terms for attempted extortion, unlawful entry, injuries and weapons offences. None of those sentenced is expected to go to prison, according to the ruling.
