ST. PETERSBURG, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - A man who drove into the daughter of a south Russian mayor last July, killing the five-year-old, has been given a suspended 18-month prison sentence.
Alexei Botalev's Lada car crashed into an open tourist cart carrying Sochi Mayor Viktor Kolodyazhny and his family near St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum on July 20, 2007. The mayor's daughter died of her injuries later in hospital.
Explaining the lenient sentence, the court cited sincere remorse on the part of the defendant, favorable comments from his employer, a chronic disease from which he suffers, and the defendant's faultless behavior in courtroom.
His driving license has been blocked for one year.
