Two men sentenced to custody for murder – NRK Rogaland –...

“In the court’s opinion, there are several and significant aggravating factors in the case. First and foremost, this applies to the brutal and serious way in which the murder was committed “, it is stated in the judgment from Jæren District Court.

The judges believe that there is a high degree of danger of new serious violent offenses, both at Sævik and Gramstad-Olsen », and that the convicts have a low threshold for the most serious violence.

The court also refers to the experts ‘assessments of the defendants’ personalities, where it is assumed that the prospects for treatment and change are poor.

On the basis of this, the men were sentenced to detention and indefinite imprisonment:

“In the interests of society, it is necessary to follow up, control and supervise both of them, in addition to what a fixed-term sentence allows for”, is the conclusion from the district court.

The public prosecutor satisfied

Sigbjørn Sveli was found killed on Regestranden in Sola on December 9 last year.

The convicts met Sveli by chance at the train station at Varhaug on Jæren. The men had got off at the wrong station and had a hitch with Sveli to Vigrestad.

Eventually they took over Sveli’s car which was kept confined throughout the evening and night.

Sævik and Gramstad-Olsen both admitted early on that they had carried out the murder, but no one has pleaded guilty.

– We are pleased that the district court has followed the argument about the consideration for social protection. The most important thing here is that they are sentenced to detention and not necessarily the length, says public prosecutor Arvid Malde.

The sentence was almost identical to his claim of 21 and 15 years’ detention, respectively.

The court believes that the murder was carried out as planned and that Sveli suffered from “horrifying pain” before he died from the flames.

Unprovoked murder

The judges further state that the murder appears to be meaningless and completely unprovoked on a random victim.

Both convicts were found to be sane at the time of the murder.

Since Gramstad-Olsen is slightly mentally retarded, his custodial sentence will be shorter than Sævik’s.

“In the court’s opinion, on this background it cannot be disregarded that Gramstad-Olsen’s developmental disability has contributed to him joining the actions. On the other hand, it is clear that the criminal acts in this case, and in particular the catastrophic consequences of the acts, mean that the punishment must be in a reasonable proportion to the seriousness of the case “, it is stated in the judgment.

Gramstad-Olsen’s defender, Inam Ghous Ali, says the verdict will be appealed.

– I have not had time to go through the verdict properly with my client, but he is informed about the verdict. We believe the punitive response should have been compulsory care.

The convicts must also pay reparation of 300,000 kroner to each of Sveli’s parents.

NRK has so far not succeeded in getting comments from the other defender, or from the survivors’ assistance lawyer.