A man from Anenii Noi district was sentenced to five years and a half in jail after he crushed to death a woman by his tractor in May 2017. Being under the influence of alcohol, he took the woman who was his sister-in-law for a ride. The tractor didn’t have an enclosed cab and the woman fell out, dying crushed under the wheels of the vehicle. The sentence was passed by the Anenii Noi Court, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, under the road traffic regulations, the transportation of passengers outside the tractor’s cab is banned. The tractor didn’t have a cab and the man modified the driver’s chair, illegally setting up a place for a passenger. The man lost control of the tractor and this skidded off the road and overturned into a protection levee of the Nistru River.

The woman aged 27 died on the spot, while the man was hospitalized with traumas. On the day of the accident, he together with his family and relatives, celebrated on the bank of the Nistru and the tragedy happened when they were returning home. Tests showed the man had a concentration of 1.7 g/l alcohol in the blood.

Four years ago, the man was sentenced for a similar offense. A passenger died on a field road when he fell out from the same tractor. The driver was then given a three years’ suspended sentence and banned from driving for a period of three years.

The sentence can be challenged in the Chisinau Appeals Court.