The psychiatrist who killed Nagore Laffage: 7 years in prison for 36 blows
Diego Yllanes killed Nagore Laffage with 36 blows, served 7 of a 12-year sentence and today works as a psychiatrist in Madrid. The class gap in Spain's justice system is back in the spotlight.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Nagore Laffage's killer, sentenced to 12 years, walked free after seven and now works as a psychiatrist in Madrid
A 27-year-old doctor, on his way back from the 2008 San Fermín festival, tried to force a 20-year-old nurse to have sens with him. When she refused, he beat her 36 times, breaking her jaw and skull, until he strangled her. The victim: Nagore Laffage. The attacker: Diego Yllanes, today a psychiatrist in the Spanish capital.
The initial sentence was 12 years in prison. He served seven. Since then, he has been practising psychiatry in Madrid. The fact is not new, but it resurfaces every time the case is brought back to life: the class gap in Spain's justice system.
36 blows, a fractured skull and a reduced sentence
Forensic examiners documented 36 blows on Nagore's body. Her jaw was broken and her skull fractured. The autopsy revealed extreme violence. The High Court of Navarra sentenced Yllanes to 12 years for homicide, but with mitigating factors such as sudden passion. The defence played the card of his «good upbringing» and clean record. He walked free in 2015, after serving seven years.
The comparison with other cases of similar brutality, where those convicted serve practically their entire sentences, fuels the suspicion that social background weighs on the courts. «Upper-class Basques are untouchable», sums up a line of analysis that has circulated ever since.
A psychiatrist treating vulnerable patients[/ZIZE]
That someone convicted of murder, with a record of extreme violence, can rejoin the healthcare system without any public restrictions is, to say the least, paradoxical. And doing so in psychiatry — a specialty that treats people in situations of vulnerability — multiplies the concern. Neither the Medical Association nor the Regional Health Ministry has made any statements on the matter in recent years.
The debate over whether a professional with this record should be allowed to practise has no official answer. Meanwhile, Yllanes sees patients at his practice in Madrid.
The price of a «good family»
Yllanes's family, with money and connections, could afford a top-tier legal defence. The same pattern repeats in other high-profile cases: minimum sentences for those who can pay for good lawyers and plead remorse. Against this, Nagore's mother has repeatedly denounced the sense of impunity. «He barely spent any time in prison», she said in an interview.
The facts of the case are stubborn: 36 blows, a 12-year sentence, 7 served. And a practising psychiatrist.
Related discussions in the forum
A 27-year-old doctor, on his way back from the 2008 San Fermín festival, tried to force a 20-year-old nurse to have sens with him. When she refused, he beat her 36 times, breaking her jaw and skull, until he strangled her. The victim: Nagore Laffage. The attacker: Diego Yllanes, today a psychiatrist in the Spanish capital.
The initial sentence was 12 years in prison. He served seven. Since then, he has been practising psychiatry in Madrid. The fact is not new, but it resurfaces every time the case is brought back to life: the class gap in Spain's justice system.
36 blows, a fractured skull and a reduced sentence
Forensic examiners documented 36 blows on Nagore's body. Her jaw was broken and her skull fractured. The autopsy revealed extreme violence. The High Court of Navarra sentenced Yllanes to 12 years for homicide, but with mitigating factors such as sudden passion. The defence played the card of his «good upbringing» and clean record. He walked free in 2015, after serving seven years.
The comparison with other cases of similar brutality, where those convicted serve practically their entire sentences, fuels the suspicion that social background weighs on the courts. «Upper-class Basques are untouchable», sums up a line of analysis that has circulated ever since.
A psychiatrist treating vulnerable patients[/ZIZE]
That someone convicted of murder, with a record of extreme violence, can rejoin the healthcare system without any public restrictions is, to say the least, paradoxical. And doing so in psychiatry — a specialty that treats people in situations of vulnerability — multiplies the concern. Neither the Medical Association nor the Regional Health Ministry has made any statements on the matter in recent years.
The debate over whether a professional with this record should be allowed to practise has no official answer. Meanwhile, Yllanes sees patients at his practice in Madrid.
The price of a «good family»
Yllanes's family, with money and connections, could afford a top-tier legal defence. The same pattern repeats in other high-profile cases: minimum sentences for those who can pay for good lawyers and plead remorse. Against this, Nagore's mother has repeatedly denounced the sense of impunity. «He barely spent any time in prison», she said in an interview.
The facts of the case are stubborn: 36 blows, a 12-year sentence, 7 served. And a practising psychiatrist.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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