Three men attacked a fallen victim in Třebíč — court hands down sentences of up to 8.5 years

A court in the Czech town of Třebíč has sentenced three young men who last summer brutally beat a man outside a fast-food stand near the Jihlava River. The harshest punishment — 8.5 years in prison — went to 20-year-old Zdenko Šesták, whose new sentence was combined with an earlier 5.5-year term for raping a 14-year-old girl. His 19-year-old accomplices, Josef Ferenc and Martin Pešta, each received six years.

According to the court, the brawl broke out in early August last year after Šesták got into an argument with an acquaintance. "He shoved me, leaned into me, so I hit him back," the defendant told the hearing. After that, all three set upon the victim, beating and kicking him in the head indiscriminately. The man tried to flee, even attempting to climb over a fence, but the attackers dragged him back and continued the assault.

The judge's questions and the defendants' excuses

"What was this — some kind of showdown, that you all attacked him together?" asked Judge Aleš Novotný. "I don't know why the others were hitting him," Šesták replied, adding that he regretted what had happened.

The entire attack was captured on CCTV, and the judge played the footage right in the courtroom. "When I saw that recording, I nearly got sick. I'm sorry about it," Pešta admitted. Asked by the judge why the victim wasn't allowed to escape, even though he was clearly trying to get away, the defendant replied: "I was drunk." His accomplice Ferenc gave a similar explanation: "I'd been drinking, I don't remember exactly, I'm sorry."

Source: novinky.cz