Finland Times

 

File Photo – Lehtikuva.

The defence of the 11 social workers charged with intentional negligence in relation to the death of an 8-year-old girl in 2013 criticised the prosecutor’s call for mandatory penalties.

 

In July last year, charges were pressed against 11 social and health workers including two doctors and two nurses in connection to the young girl’s death. All of the accused were charged with breach of official duty.

 

The father of the young girl and her stepmother are both serving life imprisonment for the girl’s murder.

 

The prosecutor demanded an eight-month prison sentence to be handed to the most senior social worker, the harshest sentence proposed.

 

Tiina Nystén, the lawyer representing the senior social worker, called for the charges to be dropped. “The mandatory penalties are quite unbelievable. These people have done their best,” said Nystén in her closing statement.

 

According to Nystén, matters were clarified as much as possible. The prosecutor, Tuire Tamminiemi, maintained that not enough was done to verify either the stepmother’s identity or the father’s criminal background. 

 

In addition, Tamminiemi wondered why the girl’s father was trusted at all, when he was clearly lying.

 

“The father’s cooperativeness fooled virtually everyone. It doesn’t constitute a breach of official duty,” argued Nystén in her closing statement.

 

According to the prosecutor, the alarm bells should have been ringing when the adults spoke falsehoods regarding a fourth pregnancy and blatantly lied about their housing situation.

 

For the social worker responsible for the little girl’s affairs from the summer to autumn in 2010, the prosecutor called for substantial financial penalties and for his successor at least half a year conditional sentence of imprisonment. For the other defendants, he called for fines.

 

According to Nystén, there was no basis to remove the child from the home. According to prosecutor Tamminiemi, this was evident. He pointed out that there were several times when the girl’s condition, for example, her bruises, should have been reported to the police. The prosecutor referred to expert opinion that repeated bruising of the face was ground enough to suspect abuse. 

 

The social workers’ defence once again stressed that they had placed their trust in the healthcare experts.

 

The second social worker’s attorney, Markku Fredman, said there was no justifiable suspicion to report to the police. The prosecutor wondered why the little girl’s consultations had been neglected. She should have been well able to express her opinions of her situation to the social workers at various stages. “According to the defence, this also was acceptable.

 

All of the accused have denied the charges they are facing.