Joshua Parfitt
A GUARDIA Civil officer who brutally murdered a Moroccan man in a racist attack has had his sentence reduced on account of a ‘transient mental disorder’.
Angel Luis Viana, 32, appealed against his sentence of 16 years for murder, which led to a two-year reduction in his sentence after a hearing at the High Court of Justice in Madrid.
Viana, who left his house on the morning of April 25 in 2016 with a Beretta handgun and a 45.5 centimetre machete strapped to his back, was driving his personal BMW down the A-3 autovia towards Madrid when he spotted Younes Slinanni, then 39, in a grey Opel Zafira.
Believing that Slinanni was about to commit a ‘terrorist attack’, Viana fired two warning shots.
When Slinanni did not stop, Viana rammed his car, causing the father-of-two to flee for his life on foot.
Slinanni was then shot 11 times in the legs and back before collapsing and suffering a final, fatal shot to the head.
The court heard however that this racist attack was the result of Viana’s ‘previous personality traits, stressful life situations and the continued consumption of hashish and alcohol’.
Viana was said to have suffered a ‘brief psychotic disorder’ and had ‘convinced himself he was stopping a dangerous terrorist’.
On this basis, Viana’s sentence was reduced for extenuating circumstances.
The court heard, however, that the sole reason for Viana’s initial warning shots were the ‘Maghreb features’ of Slinanni.
Viana reportedly said to colleagues after his arrest: “Before one of these Moors blows us up with a bomb, I blew him up.”
After Viana was arrested in 2016, his lawyer at the time said Viana’s ‘psychological disorder’ was caused by his splitting up with his wife 10 days prior to the attack.
The lawyer added that following his arrest Viana’s mental condition was still ‘bad’ as the off-duty officer thought he should be decorated for his act.
Slinanni, a Moroccan traditional upholsterer, was on his way to buy honey for resale in his home of Illescas, in Toledo.
Viana was ordered to pay a fine of just €1,146 to Slinanni’s wife, who was suddenly left without any income to raise the couple’s two children, aged six and eight.
