Court gives suspended sentence over fatal Mäntsälä accident

A court in Eastern Uusimaa has given a defendant an eight-month suspended sentence after a six-year-old boy died and a five-year-old was seriously injured in an accident in Mäntsälä, Yle reports.

The Eastern Uusimaa District Court convicted the defendant of aggravated negligent homicide and aggravated negligent injury. The boys were playing in the younger child’s home yard in October 2024 when heavy construction boards stored on a transport trolley fell on them. The older boy died from his injuries despite resuscitation at the scene. The younger boy was taken to hospital.

The 13 boards weighed 650 kilograms in total. The court said the weight was below the trolley’s maximum capacity, but that the trolley was not intended for storing heavy objects. It had been left on its wheels beside a walkway, with the boards leaning towards the path. Neither the boards nor the trolley had been secured, and the trolley had no other support.

The court said the defendant, as the owner of the property and the boards, had a particular responsibility to ensure they did not pose a danger. The defendant denied the charges. The ruling is not final. The accident happened on Kenkäkalliontie, a road in Mäntsälä, on October 6, 2024.