A Patras court on Thursday convicted and sentenced six of the nine defendants accused of the fatal beating of American tourist Bakari Henderson in July 2017 at popular holiday spot, Laganas on Zakynthos island.
The accused were found guilty for premeditated murder. Specifically, the court sentenced a 33-year-old to 15 years' imprisonment, a 34-year-old to 10 years and a 26-year-old to five years in prison.
Moreover, two 19 years-old and a 22-year old for whom mitigating circumstances of post-adolescent youth were accepted, were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
Three more defendants, two aged 23 and one aged 35, were initially found guilty for bodily harm but were finally were acquitted due to absence of complaint.
The court dropped charges against three suspects, including the Greek barman who had been accused of blocking Henderson's escape route but not of participating in the beating.
"I don't feel that it was justice for a murder," said Bakari’s mother, Jill Henderson who was present in court along with her husband. "It was more than a simple beating that killed a man and they killed him brutally. They kicked him several times in the head. You do not kick a person in the head and in the torso if you don't intend to kill them."
The family lawyer, Andreas Patsis, said the Henderson’s viewed the outcome as too lenient on the perpetrators.
"It's a decision that shocked the family. In our opinion and the prosecutor, the sentences handed out weren't proportionate to the brutality of the act," Patsis added.
