Alex Trelinski
A Torrevieja teenager has received a five year jail sentence after stabbing a fellow high school pupil in the back for criticising his Islamic religious beliefs.
The unnamed 19-year-old assailant was born in Pakistan but raised for most of his life in Spain.
On October 29, 2019, he took exception to comments made by a 17-year-old boy towards the end of an English class at the IES Torrevieja college on Calle Efren Gutierrez.
The assailant, aged 18 at the time, got up from his chair and approached his classmate from behind, brandishing two knives which he produced from his backpack.
He was angry over hearing comments that ‘blasphemed Islam and insulted the prophet Muhammad’.
He shouted that he ‘intended to kill’ the boy and stabbed him twice.
One of the blades got bent in the attack and he resorted to trying to slash him in the face.
Classmates managed to restrain the attacker until the Guardia Civil arrived.
The injured pupil was hospitalised for stab wounds including one to his lungs.
In an initial deposition at a Torrevieja court, the assailant said that he had been ridiculed and insulted about his religious beliefs for two years and that he had got ‘fed up’ with it.
The victim testified that he did not make any insults and that his attacker was ‘very radical’ whenever they discussed religious issues.
The case was finally heard at an Elche court where a plea deal was agreed as the 19-year old admitted his guilt in exchange for a five-year prison sentence.
Public and private prosecutors had initially demanded between eight and 12 years behind bars.
The hearing lasted a few minutes with the teenager telling the court that ‘he would not do it again’.
He will have to pay €11,000 in restitution to his victim.
A nine-year restraining order was also issued barring any contact with him.
