The middle-aged motorist who hit and killed a bicyclist in what eyewitnesses said was a severe case of road rage last month will be indicted in Helsinki District Court next week and faces manslaughter, aggravated endangerment of traffic and evasion charges.
Prosecutors say that before the preliminary investigation of the incident was complete, the man faced lesser charges of manslaughter under extenuating circumstances, but the new charges of manslaughter were raised later in the investigation.
On August 12, eyewitnesses at the scene claimed the man intentionally drove into a cyclist in the district of Töölö in Helsinki. The man is also suspected of a hit-and-run, as he allegedly fled the scene of the crime.
The cyclist died of head injuries at Töölö hospital a day later.
That day, about a hundred people attended a memorial at the scene of the cyclist’s death, placing candles and locking a white "ghost-bike" at the intersection of Tukholmankatu and Mannerheimintie
Under Finnish law, manslaughter carries a minimum prison sentence of eight years. A lesser charge of “killing” can be applied if there are mitigating circumstances, and carries between four and ten years’ detention.
The man has remained behind bars since his arrest last month and faces indictment in Helsinki District Court next week.
