Actual prison sentence for security guard who pushed an elderly man at the licensing office: "Heartlessness and indifference"

The Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv sentenced to four months of actual imprisonment a security guard who worked at the licensing office in Ramat Gan, after he was convicted of the offense of assaulting an elderly person causing actual bodily harm. In the verdict, Judge Or Mamon issued sharp criticism of the conduct of the security guard, who pushed a 78-year-old elderly man, left him lying on the floor without help, and determined that the act testifies to "heartlessness, indifference, and a lack of care."

The incident occurred when the complainant arrived at the licensing office after reception hours and asked to enter only to ask a question. According to the indictment, the security guard refused to let him in, and during the exchange of words that broke out between them, he pushed the elderly man twice. The second push was described as a forceful shove backward for a distance of several meters, which caused the elderly man to stumble, fall, and get injured.

Beyond the physical violence, the severity of the incident was intensified in light of the defendant's conduct immediately after the assault. The evidence showed that about half a minute after the fall, the security guard went outside, looked at the complainant as he lay on the ground – and completely refrained from checking his condition or offering him assistance. The elderly man received help only after another person came out of the office and approached him.

As part of the trial, Judge Mamon accepted the complainant's version in full and determined that the elderly man did not use force against the security guard and did not try to push his way into the office by force. The only force applied on his part was the attempt to prevent the door from closing in order to manage to ask his question.

On the other hand, the court rejected the arguments of the defense, which asked to take into account that this is a normative young man and a discharged combat soldier with no criminal record, who acted out of a "misinterpretation of the situation." The defendant even refused to appear before the supervisor of community service, and his lawyer clarified that from a legal perspective, his client believes that this is a "false conviction."

The judge determined that the fact that the offense was committed within the framework of the defendant's role does not constitute a mitigating circumstance, but rather aggravates the act. He emphasized the huge power gap between a sturdy young man and a hard-of-hearing elderly man, and noted that a security guard in a public institution is expected to act with tolerance, to try and understand the citizen's difficulty, and not to choose violence as a legitimate and quick option. Ultimately, the court sentenced the security guard to four months of actual imprisonment, two months of suspended imprisonment, and financial compensation in the amount of 3,000 shekels to the complainant, noting that had the prosecution not limited the compensation amount in its request, the court would have awarded a much higher sum.