Man facing prison for retrieving ball

A 50-year-ol man stands trial in Valencia from today, facing a prison sentence, for allegedly, “entering a neighbour’s house, in the town of Paterna, to recover a ball belonging to his children that had fallen in the patio of the house”.

The Court must decide whether on May 20, 2022, “the defendant saw his neighbours leaving and in the absence of the residents and without their knowledge or consent, jumped the fence that surrounds the house (a little more than a metre high), entered, recovered the ball and left the place.

The neighbours filed a complaint that opened a case reaching court today.

The Prosecutor’s Office describes the facts as “constituting a crime of trespass” and requests a sentence of nine months in prison. According to the prosecution’s conclusions, the defendant rang the bell to have the ball returned to him but received no response. Then, after seeing the neighbours leaving the house, the accused jumped over the fence “without the owners’ consent” to recover the ball.