To eighteen years in prison and a fine in the amount 10,000 euros sentenced Triple Court of Criminal Appeal of Chania 45 year old car driver Porschefound guilty of a fatal traffic accident on Souda Avenue.
The victim of the accident was 21-year-old Panagiotis Karatzisdied in January 2025. The court found the defendant guilty of driving a vehicle intoxicated and rejected all defense requests for mitigation of sentence.
According to cretalive.grthe defense insisted on recognizing the mitigating circumstance of sincere repentance, while arguing that with proper actions by the traffic police, the accused allegedly would not have ended up in the dock. The court found these arguments unfounded and refused to recognize any mitigating factors.
Applications for suspension of execution of sentence until the appeal is considered and house arrest the defendant.
Earlier, the state prosecutor proposed to find the accused guilty on all counts. In her speech, she emphasized that the man took antipsychotic drugthe use of which prohibits drivingand also that he forcibly took away the keys from his friend’s car, insisting on driving.
The prosecutor pointed to persistent offending behavior the accused and noted that after the accident he tried shift responsibilitypointing to his friend as the driver of the car.
It was separately noted that the car Porsche drove into oncoming traffic along which a car was moving Suzuki deceased, which excludes any connection between technical lighting factors and the outcome of the accident.
During his defense, the Porsche driver apologized to the family of the deceased, saying: “I destroyed one family, I destroyed my child too” He also noted that he was unable to demonstrate remorse in practice because he was in prison.
Parents of Panagiotis Karatzis became tragic figures in the trial. The father of the deceased, reacting emotionally to the testimony of the defense expert, stated: “Is this justice? Blame the child? Disgrace!“, after which he left the courtroom.
Witnesses also testified in court, including a rescue worker who participated in extracting the victim from the car, the driver who came into conflict with the defendant several hours earlier, as well as persons from the defendant’s inner circle.
A fatal accident has occurred January 11. The 45-year-old Porsche driver, under the influence of alcohol and substances and having previously been fined for a similar violation, was driving along Suda Avenue with speeding. As a result of a head-on collision with Panagiotis Karatzis’ car, the young man died on the spot.
The charges on which the driver was convicted included dangerous drivingrepeated driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence of medications that affect the ability to drive, and lack of driving license.
More Stories
Tragedy in Var: two workers died from electric shock during repairs
Domokos: cameras “drowned” the senior warden in the Papadatos murder case
Check on the ΟΠΕΚΑ case: a “hole” of 1.86 million euros and 372 dubious cases