The Plovdiv District Court has remanded in custody the driver of the truck from the accident with a dead family on the Plovdiv Ring Road.
Juneyt Dyulgerov has refused to give explanations. This was commented on by prosecutor Vladimir Valev to journalists. According to him, the incident occurred after Dyulgerov lost attention, most likely due to using a mobile phone.
The 24-year-old driver has been charged with causing the death of more than one person by negligence, which is a particularly serious case. The state prosecution insisted on a preventive measure of "detention in custody". This charge carries a penalty of 15 to 20 years in prison.
"Dyulgerov's traffic violation report is four pages long," Valev said. He has had a truck driver's license for two years, and since then he has had ten penalty orders and 20 tickets - all kinds of violations of the Road Traffic Act.
"It is the systematic failure to comply with the law that leads to this tragic incident," the prosecutor also commented. One of the violations is for driving without a license. The prosecutor pointed out that the deceased driver had had a driver's license for more than 20 years and had only two violations.
Dyulgerov's defense attorney, lawyer Georgi Kutryanski, requested in the courtroom that his client be placed under "house arrest." "From the evidence collected so far, it cannot be assumed that he could commit another crime, and the act he committed was careless," the lawyer pointed out.
He added that Dyulgerov is young, unconvicted, employed, with good character data. He is originally from Smolyan, lives in a rented house in Plovdiv, works in a transport company as a driver.
"Dyulgerov has two cars that he and his family members drive, and all violations are registered in his name and he pays for them, even though not all of them were committed by him", commented Kutryanski. Dyulgerov's relatives were present in the hall. The court's decision can be appealed before the Plovdiv Court of Appeal.
We recall that on November 24 in the evening, a truck driven by the 24-year-old man entered the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into a passenger car.
The 43-year-old driver of the car and two of her passengers - a 42-year-old man and a 14-year-old child - died on the spot. Another child, 7 years old, who was traveling in a safety seat, was taken to hospital in serious condition.