Man illegally drained oil at substation for years: court decision
The Kherson Court of Appeal considered the prosecutor's appeal against the verdict of the Kherson City Court in the case of a person convicted of intentional damage to electricity facilities, which caused disruption of their normal operation. This was reported by the court.
Illegal draining of transformer oil and court verdict
According to the verdict of the court of first instance, the accused, from November 2023 to April 2024, illegally drained transformer oil from a sectional oil circuit breaker on the territory of the substation. These actions caused equipment damage and disruption of the normal operation of several electricity facilities. The court of first instance sentenced him to 1 year of imprisonment.
The prosecutor appealed the verdict only regarding the resolution of the civil claim by JSC "Khersonoblenergo," which the local court left without consideration. According to the prosecutor, the court of first instance made a significant violation of the criminal procedural law requirements, as the claim should have been considered on the merits.
Why the appellate court left the claim without consideration
Regarding the civil claim, the appellate court noted that according to part 5 of article 128 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, a civil claim in criminal proceedings is considered according to the rules of the Criminal Procedure Code, and if relevant procedural relations are not regulated by it, the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine apply, provided they do not contradict the principles of criminal proceedings. Also, according to part 2 of article 127 of the Criminal Procedure Code, damage caused by a criminal offense may be recovered by a court decision based on the consideration of a civil claim in criminal proceedings.
The appellate court agreed with the local court's conclusion that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence necessary to resolve the dispute. In particular, the case materials included a contract for the purchase of transformer oil dated 25.01.2023, but no other evidence of the current value of the oil at the time of filing the claim was provided. Furthermore, the case materials did not contain evidence that the accused drained exactly 300 kg of oil, and the indictment did not specify the amount of drained oil.
Under these circumstances, the panel of judges found the application of article 257 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine justified and left the civil claim without consideration. At the same time, the court noted that according to part 7 of article 128 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a person whose civil claim was left without consideration has the right to submit it in civil proceedings or reapply to the court after eliminating the circumstances that were the basis for leaving the claim without consideration.
In conclusion, the appellate court found no significant violations of the requirements of the criminal procedural law or incorrect application of the law of Ukraine on criminal liability.
By the ruling of the Kherson Court of Appeal, the verdict of the Kherson City Court was left unchanged (case No. 766/14875/24).
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