Hrannar Fossberg Viðarsson was today sentenced by the Court of Appeal to serve the rest of the sentence he received in the District Court in Reykjavík, in 2018. He received parole the year after. DV originally reported on this.
Hrannar was a suspect in a shooting in Grafarholt, Reykjavík in the middle of the night, on Thursday February 10th of this year. A friend of Hrannar was also arrested. However, Hrannar was the only one of the two men, who was a suspect in the shooting, which was aimed at a couple. Hrannar is said to have committed the act in a fit of jealousy. He and the woman in question are a former couple.
The injuries the woman sustained were life threatening. She was hit in the stomach, but the man was shot in the thigh. The woman had to undergo surgery so the bullet could be removed from her body.
According to the sentence, the other man on the scene admitted to having driven Hrannar there. Upon arrival at the home in Grafarholt, the men noticed the former fiancée of Hrannar. Hrannar called out to the woman and fired his weapon in quick success, in the direction of the couple.
Investigation of the gun powder residue supported the friend’s statement. It indicated the shots having been fired through the passenger side window, where Hrannar was seated. His friend was the one driving the car.
Received the questionable honor of being the countries youngest convict
Hrannar has a long criminal record and has discussed his difficult life in the media. He started using drugs at a young age and upon seeking help he arrived at closed doors. At just sixteen years old he received probation sentence for attempted murder and serious physical assault. He was only fifteen when he committed the crimes.
In a December 2017 article in Vísir he was titled the countries youngest convict, being incarcerated at Hólmsheiði prison, at just 18 years of age. In an interview for that same article, Hrannar stated that Hólmsheiði prison was the best form of rehab he had ever been to. However, there was not much work for him to do and he had not received any answers to his inquiries for seeking college education.
In February 2018 Hrannar said in an interview with DV, at 19 years old, that he had been sentenced for five years in prison for various offences. Among those were violations of laws regarding weapon, drugs, and traffic, in addition to threats of violence. The long sentence was due to Hrannar having broken the parole he received two years earlier, when the crimes were committed.
Hrannar has been in custody ever since February 11th after the shooting in Grafarholt. The investigation into the shooting is said to be in final stages. Hrannar is nearly done with the maximum custody time.
The verdict can be read here.
This article was originally published in Icelandic by Salome Friðgeirsdóttir.