Self-defense? An 18-year-old female student received 60 hours of community service and 20,000 UAH in damages for a punch in a bar

In Mykolaiv, the Central District Court handed down a verdict to an 18-year-old college student for a fight in a bar on Soborna Street that took place on the evening of April 24 last year, sentencing her to 60 hours of community service and ordering 20 thousand hryvnias in moral damages to the victim.

According to the case materials, during the conflict in the establishment the girl grabbed an acquaintance by the hair and struck her in the face, as a result the victim sustained minor bodily injuries in the form of bruises to the cheek and temple.

At trial the defendant did not admit guilt and claimed she acted in a state of necessary defense, however eyewitness testimony and other evidence in the case refuted this version.

The court convicted her under Part 1 of Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and dismissed the arguments about self-defense as unfounded.

The verdict was handed down by Judge Tetiana Fortuna: in addition to the community service, the court partially granted the civil claim, ordering a payment of 20 thousand hryvnias in moral damages, the press service of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv reported, citing the case materials.

Earlier we wrote:

• After a brawl in a hospital and conflicts with his mother, he became the subject of another criminal case
• “Caught” on the second try: a bully from Korabelny who stabbed an acquaintance three times in the chest was sentenced to 5 years
• For a robbery at the station, two locals were sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment under martial law conditions
• Clashes at a gas station in the Mykolaiv region: outsiders beat and robbed locals
• Former rector Budak, who hit a 64-year-old woman at a crossing in Mykolaiv, received 3 years suspended and 2 years without driving privileges