PSP agent sentenced to 14 years in prison for killing the robber who kidnapped him

The Central Criminal Court of Lisbon sentenced PSP agent, Rui Gonçalves, to 14 years in prison for killing a robber who kidnapped him in the early hours of April 1, 2024. In the sentence, the group of judges He also forced the police officer to pay 40 thousand euros to the victim’s minor sonnot having upheld the argument of self-defense invoked by the agent.

A news is advanced by the newspaper Expresswhich explains that the operative (who belongs to the PSP Personal Security Corps), confessed to having killed Amílcar Pinto. According to the newspaper’s report, the agent said that the victim and his girlfriend “robbed him at gunpoint at a traffic light near the National Stadium”, in Oeiras. Having no wallet or cell phone, he was forced to take the couple “home”, to a building in Benfica where only police officers lived. Once on site, “he managed to get hold of his service weapon and after shouting ‘police’ he shot the assailant” who had a pistol (which turned out to be a replica of air-soft) on the waistband of his pants, but he never got around to removing it. The police officer’s shot (which he claims was in self-defense) hit the 40-year-old victim in the chest.

The report is, however, different from that of Inês, the victim’s girlfriend. It was this version, according to the Express, which was validated by the courts. According to the weekly, the woman explained that Rui Gonçalves drove the car to “a hitch area” and did “three turns” until it stopped next to Amílcar and Inês’ car. When asked if he “wanted to party”, he responded affirmatively. But When he got into the car next door, his boyfriends pointed a gun at his stomach, forcing the police officer to drive him home. Once he handed over his wallet with 45 euros inside, as well as his cell phone, he fired “unnecessarily”.

According to the panel of judges, the agent engaged in this conduct to hide the sexual encounter. And, for the court, the agent could have used techniques to immobilize the assailant or have fired a non-lethal shot.