A public utilities worker sentenced to 6 years in prison for publicly stabbing a homeless person with a knife in Vitebsk

Recently, a sentence was handed down against a comprehensive cleaning worker from one of Vitebsk's housing and communal services departments, who, during working hours and in the presence of numerous witnesses, stabbed a homeless person twice in the chest.

As reported by Irina Naumenko, Assistant Prosecutor of Vitebsk, utility workers were clearing debris from an old building in the city center that was slated for reconstruction. A group of homeless people had gathered in the yard of the abandoned house. One of them asked the utility workers not to touch the belongings of his comrades who had settled in the dilapidated building. An altercation ensued. The worker, who was loading garbage into a tractor trailer, approached the man arguing, pulled a folding hunting knife from his pocket, and stabbed him twice in the chest.

During the investigation, the accused explained his actions by claiming self-defense, stating that he used the knife after being punched in the face. However, all witnesses claim otherwise.

It turned out that the attacker is registered with a psychiatrist. Despite this, according to doctors, the man committed the acts he is accused of consciously. For attempted murder, he has been sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

Alexander Kutynko, "Vitebskiye Vesti"