The Lisbon Court of Appeal confirmed and increased to six years the effective prison sentence imposed on Madeiran singer Rúben Aguiar, convicted of attempted qualified homicide after fleeing after hitting someone with his car.
The ruling, quoted by Correio da Manhã, states that “we have no doubt that the defendant wanted to run over the offended party” and describes that the singer “went on with his life indifferent to the damage he had caused.”
The decision confirms the initial sentence of five and a half years handed down in April by the Court of Almada, where the singer was found guilty of serious and qualified physical integrity offences. However, the Court of Appeal decided to review the sentence and accept the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the musician to be convicted of attempted qualified homicide, a crime with a higher criminal framework.
The incident dates back to April 18, 2023, when, after an argument at a petrol station on the A33, in Alcochete, Rúben Aguiar intentionally ran over the offended party, continuing on his way after deliberately running the other man down with his car. During the process, the Madeiran singer presented contradictory versions of the events, initially claiming a reaction in self-defence and, later, maintaining that he would not have seen the victim. However, the court considered this thesis “not credible,” based on video surveillance images demonstrating that he acted consciously and deliberately.
Judges Ana Guerreiro da Silva, Elisa Marques da Silva, and magistrate Alfredo Gameiro Costa, who signed the ruling, rejected the defendant’s defence, stating that “it is not credible that someone who runs over a person does not realize what he has done. To mount a kerb is deliberate.”
Rúben Aguiar remains under house arrest until the case becomes final. The decision of the Court of Appeal is final, since the sentence of less than eight years does not allow appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice, having been confirmed by a higher court.
