Manslaughter charges against Russian parents dropped |11 February 2023

Wife walks free after prosecution drops both charges

Viktoria Sandul, wife of 39-year-old Dimitri Sandul, both of whom were charged before the Supreme Court on February 6 for manslaughter and cruelty to children, has been discharged from the case, following their reappearance in court yesterday morning.

A police investigation in the death of their 17-month-old boy commenced on January 21, 2022, after he was allegedly left unattended in a car at the Goals gymnasium car park in Anse Royale, and the couple returned to find him unresponsive after an hour.

During yesterday’s proceedings, the republic moved to remove both charges against 29-year-old Viktoria Sandul who was the second accused in the case, and to remove the charge of manslaughter against Mr Sandul.

The prosecution also filed an amended charge from cruelty to children, to wilfully neglecting, abandoning or exposing a child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering, moral danger or injury to health, contrary to Section 70 (1B) of the Children Act and Section 22 (a) of the Penal Code, to which he pleaded guilty.

Mr Sandul also admitted to the facts of the case read before the court, whereby the prosecution noted that the Anse Royale police station received a call at around 1.26pm, whereby they were informed by a male that two tourists, Mr Dimitri and his wife, had reported to him that they had left their baby unattended in the car at the gym carpark.

The two accused allegedly took the baby to the nearby Anse Royale hospital themselves, and when asked what happened to the child, the first accused stated that the child was vomiting and losing consciousness some 10 minutes before they arrived at the hospital. He also told the doctor that they had left the child in the locked car with the air conditioning on, while he was at the gym, prosecutors told court.

Attempts by the doctor to resuscitate the baby were unsuccessful, and the baby, Emelyan, was certified dead at around 2.15pm.

A post-mortem examination report was provided by a forensic pathologist on January 26, and the report concluded that his death happened at a time and day of high ambient temperature, which caused hypothermia and caused several cerebral and pulmonary edemas.

Counsel for Mr Sandul, Alexia Amesbury, urged court to impose a compassionate sentence and not a prison sentence. In the fact that it feels that a custodial sentence is necessary, a suspended sentence should be imposed or a fine, Mrs Amesbury added.

“This is not the picture of a person who does not care for his children,” Mrs Amesbury repeated as she produced three photographs before the court, of the family, and Mr Sandul and his children.

She went on to note that at the cremation, Mr Sandul expressed to her that losing their child is the worst punishment that they could possibly suffer, and that it will haunt them for the remainder of their lives.

Mrs Amesbury urged that presiding judge David Esparon imposes a compassionate sentence, considering Mr Sandul’s age, his guilty plea at the first opportunity, and the fact that he has no previous convictions in any jurisdiction.

Going further, Mrs Amesbury stated that should the case have proceeded, the defence would have satisfied the court that the child was given 1 milligram of adrenaline by the doctor at Anse Royale, and that a child of that age should have been administered but 0.3 milligrams according to experts.

Considering that the charges against her were dropped, court ordered that Mrs Sandul’s passport and that of her two other children, one aged 6 and the other aged 4, be returned to them.

Mr Sandul will reappear in court on February 14.

Laura Pillay