Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

CRIME

Man held for setting ex-wife on fire

A 51-year-old man has been remanded into custody after setting fire to his ex-wife in Gävle in eastern Sweden.

Published: 13 October 2009 17:38 CEST

According to prosecutors, the man attempted to murder the 31-year-old woman by burning her to death. She remains in hospital with burns over 80 percent of her body, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports.

The man and his ex-wife, as well as three children were all injured in the fire, which took place in an apartment on the night of Saturday, October 3rd.

Details of the blaze, described as “explosive”, remain sketchy, with one neighbour telling Aftonbladet there was a smell of flammable liquid in the building’s stairwell.

The two adults are being treated at Uppsala University Hospital for serious burn injuries. The children, two of which were fathered by the 51-year-old, received only minor injuries.

Police were initially unable to say what caused the fire, but were able to question the 51-year-old man a few days later.

On Tuesday, the man was remanded into custody on suspicions of attempted murder, although he denies the accusations.

“The woman is still in serious condition and her prognosis remains uncertain,” prosecutor Birgitta Fernlund told the TT news agency.

Fernlund said that the couple recently divorced, but she wouldn’t say anything about possible motives for the crime.

The remand hearing was held at the hospital because the man also remains in need of treatment for his injuries.

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country.

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups.

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!