A return to court - Vesselin Tachev, who caused the death of the deputy director of a Plovdiv school, Milena Petrova, after a road accident, will not serve time in prison. This is the decision of the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Plovdiv, which is the second instance in the case. The incident occurred on January 12, 2023, when Tachev, who was 18 at the time, with only 3 months of driving experience, hit a 52-year-old Plovdiv resident who was crossing on a pedestrian crossing. It was raining that day and the road surface was wet, and visibility was reduced. The woman's relatives insist on a fair verdict, pointed out "Nova TV".
„Death is the only thing in life that is irreversible. To impose a suspended sentence on such a crime is a paradox. Given what I saw at the hearing, I can't say I'm surprised. I clearly remember how Judge Vasil Gatov was laughing and telling jokes with his colleague while the Prosecutor's Office was presenting our side of the case. One of the judges explicitly said that there should be an effective sentence. Nothing will bring my mother back. We are looking for some kind of justice. His speed was such that he couldn't stop even after the impact," the victim's son, Georgi, told "Hello, Bulgaria" on the air.
“There should be consequences for the offense. A suspended sentence is practically a finger wagging that says “Don't do that again, because if you do, we will sanction you”. "Just because we are young drivers doesn't mean we have carte blanche to kill someone on the road. I don't wish anything bad on Veselin Tachev and his family. No one from his family contacted me when my mother was in the hospital. Only once did he express his condolences in court," the man added. According to him, this is not the young man's first offense, although he has only had a driver's license for 3 months.
He is expected to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal.