Reykjanes District Court gave an 18-year-old a five-year non-suspended prison sentence on Wednesday for having stabbed his father’s partner multiple times with a knife in her apartment on April 21, 2012. The woman was severely injured but surgery saved her life.

Reykjanes. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.

The father and son lived in the same building as the woman but in a different apartment, visir.is reports.

The convict confessed to having assaulted the woman but denied having intended to hurt or kill her. He had wanted to threaten her to make her go away and leave his father alone, he reasoned.

The convict stated that he didn’t recall having stabbed the woman with a knife while questioned during the trial, which does not coincide with the testimony he gave when the court case was filed.

When asked about the discrepancy, he claimed that the questions had been misleading.

He also claimed not to remember having beaten and kicked his victim in the head or having grabbed her by the throat from behind.

The jury concluded that the boy’s confessions to the police and when the court case was filed were credible and that he had not been able to tenably explain why he had changed his testimony. It was also considered proven that he had repeatedly stabbed the victim.

ESA