Attempted murder case postponed

On 6 May last year, a young man was attacked in Tórshavn by assailants using an axe.

The prosecution has requested mental examinations of the two suspects, males aged 21 and 23, but only one of the examinations is complete, according to prosecutor Linda Hesselberg.

Medical jurists say it will take at least a month for remaining examination to be completed. Hesselberg refuses to comment on the reasons for this delay.

It was agreed in court yesterday that the case cannot be heard without complete mental examinations.

§16 of the penal code

The mental examinations are crucial in this case because the jury needs to determine whether §16 of the penal code, regarding mental illness, applies.

According to §16 of the penal code, a suspect deemed to have been mentally ill at the time of the crime should, in general, be sentenced to a mental health facility, and not be given a prison term.

Postponed until June

This is the third time this case has been postponed. The first court date was in February. It was then scheduled for this coming Monday, and now it has been postponed until 6 June. This means that the case will be more than one year old once it is heard in court.

This is highly inconvenient, says Hesselberg, as the case involves 12 jury members and 15 witnesses.