Maximum penalty handed down in pedestrian death

Drunk and stoned motorist was driving at over 90 km/h when he hit and killed a woman on HC Andersen Boulevard

A 23-year-old man has been sentenced by Copenhagen City Court to four years and six months in prison for running down and killing 46-year-old Cilla Olander Johansson on HC Andersen Boulevard last November. That is the maximum penalty under the law. The man had a blood alcohol level of 1.01 and traces of THC in his blood at the time of the accident.

Police investigating at the time said the man admitted to consuming “two large glasses of whiskey” before taking the wheel, and one of two women who were riding in the backseat of the car told police that the driver had also been smoking cannabis and snorting cocaine. She said that he was having trouble standing before he sat down to drive.

The man was charged with involuntary manslaughter and the prosecution had demanded at least four years in prison.

Seeking a lighter sentence
The driver was travelling more than 90 km/h when he ran a red light and hit Johansson as she attempted to cross the intersection near Tivoli Gardens and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Passengers told the court that the driver had reached speeds of 200 km/h during the trip from Farum to Copenhagen. He was also reportedly texting on his mobile phone at the time of the accident.

The man said that he will appeal the verdict to the High Court in an attempt to get a shorter sentence.

TOP STORIES

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs