Novosibirsk deputy who threw a downed child on the road got off with a million rubles

Former deputy of the local council of the Tatarsky district (Novosibirsk region) Sergei Mamontov, who knocked down a child in a car in October and left him lying on the road, managed to avoid serious punishment. He practically bought himself an “indulgence”, as the inhabitants of the region estimate: he compensated the mother of the injured child 1 million rubles, after which the parties came to reconciliation and the case was closed. “MK” asked the lawyer to comment on the outcome of this high-profile case from the point of view of the law.

From the video of this attack, which is still circulating on the Web, it becomes ill. The car takes off around the corner and crashes into a six-year-old boy who is wandering along the roadway. Knocks him down and runs him over. The child was lucky that he ended up falling to the ground between the wheels of the car.

The driver stops, gets out of the car, looks at the child lying motionless, leans towards him… Then he spreads his arms, gets back into the car and leaves. For some reason, it doesn’t occur to him to call an ambulance, or to take the boy to the hospital himself.

It happened on October 30, 2022 in Tatarsk. The boy went after a cat that ran away from home, and ended up on the roadway. After the incident, an ambulance was called to him by eyewitnesses. As MK wrote earlier, the baby received very serious injuries: a fracture of the skull, a fracture of the ischium, bruises … First, he was hospitalized in the Tatar Central District Hospital, and then he was transported by air ambulance helicopter to Novosibirsk for treatment. The health of the child, as later determined by the medical commission, was harmed “of moderate severity.”

Well, the deputy, after being put on the wanted list, turned himself in to the police. Immediately after the accident, administrative protocols were drawn up against him for violating traffic rules, which caused moderate bodily harm, as well as for leaving the scene of an accident. For this, he served a sentence of 11 days in jail. Then he was expelled from the ER party and deprived of his deputy status. A criminal case was initiated under the article “Leaving in danger”.

The ex-deputy agreed with the mother of the injured boy on a million rubles – it was in this amount that she estimated the moral suffering and fear of her child and the harm caused to his health.

On December 23, the justice of the peace of the 1st judicial district of the Tatar judicial district announced the termination of the criminal case due to “reconciliation of the parties.” Before that, the boy’s mother admitted that she was experiencing “mixed feelings”: “And since everything did not have such terrible consequences, but for me this is the main thing, therefore such a qualification,” she said.

We asked lawyer Dmitry Kurepin to assess the situation.

– Let’s deal with the termination of criminal prosecution. This person is attracted under Article 125 – leaving in danger a person who is in a state dangerous to life or health, without the ability to take measures for self-preservation – in this case, due to childhood. This crime belongs to crimes of minor gravity and the punishment for it is up to one year in prison.

In accordance with the law, criminal cases for crimes of small and medium gravity may be terminated during the preliminary investigation or in court in connection with the reconciliation of the parties, provided that such a statement is written by the injured party. The court took into account that it was the first time he was involved, and therefore there were all grounds for such a decision. He voluntarily compensated for the damage, the victims wrote a corresponding petition for termination, and the court quite legally made a decision to terminate.

On the recording, the judge says that since the claim is satisfied voluntarily, it will not be considered in the criminal case. The fact is that the driver of the car is the person who controls the source of increased danger. There is article 1164 in the Civil Code, which states that in case of causing harm by a source of increased danger, the violator is responsible “in terms of property”, which was done by this person.

He paid damages, which most likely included medical expenses and compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Since he voluntarily compensated for the damage, and the victims reconciled with him, the court exercised its right to terminate the criminal prosecution. Therefore, emotions can be bracketed here.

Since the child was found to have harm to health of “moderate severity”, then the violator was absolutely justifiably not brought under a criminal article, which implies serious harm to health. Since he left the scene of an accident, he was brought for an administrative offense, punished with arrest for 11 days.

As for the moral side of the matter, from the standpoint of ethics and morality, his act does not fit into the norms of the human community: how could a six-year-old child be left lying on the roadway? I think that in moral terms, he has already been punished by public outcry, expulsion from the party and deprivation of the status of a deputy.

But in this situation, I would not disregard the actions of the parents. Why did the mother let the child go to the roadway? I would take a closer look at this family, and, at least from the side of guardianship and guardianship authorities, I would work with this family.

As MK wrote earlier, the woman is raising two children alone (the injured boy has an older sister), they do not live with her husband.

The prosecutor’s office, however, did not agree with the court’s decision and appealed against the termination of the criminal case against the ex-deputy.