In Cherkasy region, a serviceman was sentenced to 7 years for a fatal DUI accident

The Cherkasy District Court of Cherkasy region delivered a verdict in a case involving a fatal road traffic accident, in which a woman was the victim.

By court decision, the serviceman who was driving under the influence of alcohol was found guilty of causing the accident. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. The court's press service reported the decision.

Circumstances of case No. 707/1354/2

The court established that the accused was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe while heavily intoxicated — his blood alcohol content was 2.27 per mille. Traveling along Peremohy Street in the village of Sloboda, Cherkasy district, from Chyhyrynskyi Shlyakh Street towards Nadiya Krupska Street, near house No. 7, the driver was inattentive and violated several provisions of the Ukrainian traffic rules, including points 2.3 (b), 2.9 (a), 10.1, and 10.2.

Grossly violating the mentioned traffic safety rules, showing extreme negligence to the road situation and its changes, failing to ensure the safety of his movement, not yielding to pedestrians moving in the opposite direction outside the roadway, changing direction to the left, driving beyond the left edge of the roadway towards Nadiya Krupska Street, he struck two pedestrians.

As a result of the collision, one of the victims sustained severe injuries and died in the hospital; she left behind a husband and six children. The second woman suffered a fracture and knee injury. Immediately after the accident, the driver did not assist the victims. According to the surviving victim, he refused to call the police and ambulance, and his companion took her phone so she could not call herself. The incident was reported only after the woman managed to access a phone.

In court, the accused partially admitted guilt: he confirmed that he drove while intoxicated but claimed that the victim allegedly suddenly ran onto the roadway. The court rejected these statements as an attempt to evade responsibility—they contradicted the victim's testimony, the accident scene inspection protocol, and expert conclusions, which confirmed the vehicle was technically sound and that the women were walking on the roadside, not on the roadway. The court qualified the driver's actions under part 3 of article 286-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — violation of traffic safety rules by a person under the influence, causing death. This article provides for 5 to 10 years imprisonment with deprivation of the right to drive for the same period.

Court decision 

When sentencing, the court found no mitigating or aggravating circumstances. However, it took into account that the man had no prior convictions, is a combatant, and was awarded the "Badge of Valor," which allowed the court to impose a sentence close to the lower limit of the sanction: 7 years imprisonment with deprivation of the right to drive for 6 years.

The court also noted that the law explicitly prohibits suspension of such a sentence with probation, and partial admission of guilt without genuine remorse cannot be grounds for mitigation.

The preventive measure of detention was extended until the verdict takes legal effect.

Protecting the rights of the victim's family, the court partially satisfied the civil claim of the deceased woman's husband: ordered the convicted to pay 1.5 million hryvnias in moral damages and 15,600 hryvnias in material damages to cover burial expenses. Court costs for expert examinations were also recovered from him.

This case is another example of the tragic consequences of driving under the influence. The accused had previously been administratively punished for a similar violation and was deprived of driving rights, but this did not stop him. The court's verdict aims not only to punish the guilty but also to remind all road users of the cost of carelessness behind the wheel.

The court's verdict is not yet legally binding. It can be appealed within thirty days to the Cherkasy Court of Appeal.

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