The Central District Court in Lod accepted the prosecution‘s appeal and increased the sentence of a defendant convicted of weapons possession, after two fragmentation grenades were found in his home in Petah Tikva.
The District Court ruled that, in light of the data presented regarding the increasing use of fragmentation grenades in criminal activity since the events of October 7th, with an average of almost three fragmentation grenades thrown per day, it is appropriate to significantly raise the sentencing threshold.
The defendant, Yosef Abu Dib, kept two fragmentation grenades in his home, where he lived with his children, inside a box behind a plinth in the kitchen. These grenades had the capacity to kill a person. Alongside the grenades, a sum of $5,600 in cash was hidden. Upon learning of the police search conducted at his home, he fled and was located only after about ten days.
The defendant confessed to the offenses attributed to him after most of the evidence was heard, as part of a procedural agreement that did not include a sentencing agreement, and was convicted of weapons possession. The Magistrate’s Court in Petah Tikva sentenced him to 22 months of actual imprisonment only.
The Central District Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the sentence, requesting a significant increase in the defendant’s sentence, as the sentence was extremely lenient and inconsistent with prevailing jurisprudence, particularly with the immense potential for harm inherent in possessing two fragmentation grenades.
The District Court, as stated, accepted the appeal and increased the defendant’s sentence to 32 months of actual imprisonment, noting the principle that an appellate court does not exhaust the judgment.
In its ruling, the District Court (presided over by Judge Sh. Bornstein) emphasized the strict sentencing policy established by the Supreme Court‘s rulings on weapons offenses, and highlighted the importance of imposing appropriate and deterrent sentences on all links in the criminal chain, in order to eradicate serious offenses that threaten public peace and security. The court also referred to Amendment 140 to the Penal Law, which includes minimum sentences for various weapons offenses, including possession, enacted in response to the alarming rise in the use of weapons by unauthorized individuals.
The court noted in its ruling that the case is not exceptional and not insignificant, and referred to a data compilation document from the Israel Police, submitted by the prosecution to the Magistrate’s Court, which reviews the sharp and significant increase in the number of fragmentation grenade incidents since the events of October 7th.
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