Preventive detention or time-limited prison sentence for young offender
Supreme Court jugment 7 October 2021, HR-2021-1963-A, (case no. 21-088512STR-HRET), criminal case, appeal against judgment.
A (Counsel Øystein Ola Storrvik) v. The Public Prosecution Authority (Consel Thale Thomseth)
Justices: Falkanger, Bull, Falch, Østensen Berglund, Thyness
The penalty for one violation of section 355 of the Penal Code, three violations of section 352 subsection 1 and one violation of section 268 subsection 1, cf. section 70 (a), of the Penal Code was imprisonment for a term of six years. The convicted person, who was 19 ½ years old at the time of the offences, had put fire to three garages in his neighborhood. One of the incidents could have led to loss of human lives, while the others led to large material damage. The Court of Appeal had sentenced him to preventive detention, see section 40 of the Penal Code. The Supreme Court found that the basic condition for preventive detention – the protection of society – was not met. The Supreme Court referred to the convicted person’s young age and the fact that he had received limited treatment for psychological challenges and previous drug problems. He had dropped out of school early and not been in employment, and therefore lacked the experience and maturation this could have given. He had also not been previously convicted and had therefore not received any correctional treatment by means of imprisonment.