A HOMEOWNER in his 80s who shot a burglar to stop him attacking his wife has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, but the prosecution plans to appeal.
Jacinto Siverio (pictured right), who was 80 at the time – and is now 83 – was asleep when two masked individuals burst into his rural home in Arafo, Tenerife on March 1, 2015.
They smashed the window of the room where Siverio's wife, 69 and her sister, 64, had been in bed before the noise awoke them.
The sister managed to lock herself into a toilet, but Jacinto's wife was pinned to the wall with an iron bar as the burglars threatened her and demanded she hand over all her cash.
Jacinto, awoken by the shouts and bangs, took his Ruby .38-calibre revolver from his safe deposit box and fired a warning shot at the skirting board, then pulled the trigger a second time, striking one of the intruders on the left side of his face.
The bullet severed his jugular vein and flew out of the right side of his neck.
Although the victim was able to stagger out onto the back patio, he collapsed and died almost immediately.
According to details of the case, Jacinto had a fake gun held to his temple and was beaten, causing multiple bruising, and his wife sustained permanent knee damage and a broken wrist, which developed into arthritis.
Both husband and wife were also diagnosed with PTSD.
But although the jury found Jacinto had opened fire in 'legitimate self-defence' and to defend his wife, they considered 'other, less serious steps could have been taken' even in his present state of 'anxiety and fear'.
They found him guilty by seven votes to two.
As well as the murder sentence, reduced to two-and-a-half years because of the 'defence' mitigation, Jacinto was given another two years for illegal possession of firearms, although the magistrate agreed this would be suspended 'as long as no other incidents occurred' in relation to his owning a gun.
The jury called for the two-and-a-half-year murder sentence to be suspended or for Jacinto to be awarded an official reprieve based upon his age and the fact he has no police record or any other blemish on his character.
Prosecutors intend to appeal against his sentence and are seeking a full acquittal.
