Court decided to give Maurício Cavaco a “chance” at a new life
A young man who stabbed his violent father to death in a small village in Tavira in an attempt to protect his mother has been handed a five-year prison sentence – but won’t spend a day behind bars.
The court chose to suspend the sentence, acknowledging the years of abuse the young man and his mother had suffered, Jornal de Notícias reports.
Maurício Cavaco, aged 19 at the time and now 20, admitted in court to killing his 63-year-old father with seven knife wounds in December 2023. The act, he said, came in a moment of desperation to protect his mother, who had been the target of regular violence and death threats at home.
The presiding judge explained that the court had decided to “specially reduce the sentence” and “give him a chance,” citing Maurício’s age, his clean criminal record, and his cooperation during the trial. He had turned himself in immediately after the killing, calling emergency services himself.
However, the suspended sentence comes with strict conditions: Maurício must continue psychiatric and psychological treatment and remain employed. “We’re giving you this opportunity, we hope that you deserve it and the court believes you will”, the judge said.
During the trial, Maurício described his childhood as marked by “constant threats and humiliation”, stating that he and his mother had endured a decade of psychological and physical abuse. The night of the incident, his mother had fled their house in the parish of Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bisposeeking help from neighbours. The young man said he could not remember the exact moment he delivered the fatal blows.
He has been under house arrest at an aunt’s home, with limited permission to work, attend medical appointments, and appear in court.
While the court acknowledged that the father was abusive, and that domestic violence is a public crime that had gone unpunished, the judge underlined that “that was not a motive to kill”.
The court’s decision aligns with pleas by hundreds of people who signed a petition calling for his release, arguing that he was a victim, not a threat to society.
Outside the courtroom this week, his lawyer, Elisabete Romão, said: “Maurício will always live with the fact that he killed his father. But today, he is a free man,” she told JN.
“There are mixed feelings: happiness because Maurício can try to start his life over again, but we cannot forget this was a murder crime. People cannot think that they can take justice into their own hands if they are the victim of a crime. What this must mean is that domestic violence crimes must be reported. We have to stop avoid more cases like Maurício’s”.
