On May 22, 2025, the court in Głogów handed down a verdict finding the school-bus driver guilty, ruling that he had significantly diminished capacity at the time of the offense. – The aforementioned man was sentenced to two years in prison and was placed under a protective measure in the form of addiction therapy. He was also banned from working as a driver for six years and from driving any motor vehicles for four years – lists Liliana Łukasiewicz, press spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica.
In addition, he must pay damages to 24 injured individuals in amounts ranging from PLN 500 to PLN 2,000 (PLN 20,000 in total) and compensate PZU S.A. for the damages covered by insurance paid to the individual owners of the damaged cars and to the cooperative that owns the school bus—in total, more than PLN 106,000.
The indictment in the case was filed by the District Prosecutor in Głogów on March 28, 2025. Twenty-nine-year-old Jakub G. was charged with intentionally causing a traffic disaster in Góra near Głogów on October 16, 2024, endangering the lives and health of 23 children and their caregiver, the drivers of three struck vehicles, and four residents of the house into which the driver deliberately drove.
Spokesperson:
As a result of the crime, five minors suffered injuries in the form of contusions and bruises to the chest, knees, abdomen, spine, head and arms, causing impairment of bodily functions for less than seven days. Property worth nearly PLN 120,000 was also damaged, including vehicles worth more than PLN 92,000 and a building worth more than PLN 26,000. The school Mercedes sustained PLN 44,000 in damage.
Investigators established that, on that day, the driver was in an improper psychophysical state and had been driving at very high speed from the outset, ignoring administrative restrictions. The prosecutor’s office said: – He drove the bus with one hand while listening to a sermon and talking to himself. He drove over speed bumps without slowing down. While driving, he knocked down two road signs. One of them shattered the bus’s windshield. He then damaged a passing Mazda and struck the BMW and Mercedes vehicles traveling ahead of him.
After driving over a speed bump, he turned and drove the bus onto the grounds of a property beside the road, where he hit the entrance gate and two vehicles parked there, and then a residential building containing four people.
Jakub G. was arrested and placed in pretrial detention. It was ultimately established that he was sober and had not been under the influence of drugs that day, despite frequently using them.
G. initially admitted committing the alleged offense and gave extensive explanations. He confirmed using drugs. Liliana Łukasiewicz
He explained that his actions had been directed by a higher power that ordered him to behave in this way.
Because the suspect was found to have religious delusions and there were doubts about his mental capacity, he underwent psychiatric observation. – The expert report concluded that Jakub G. had committed the alleged offense with a significantly diminished ability to recognize its meaning and control his conduct. This was caused by mixed dependence on several psychoactive substances, including marijuana and amphetamine, as well as mixed personality disorders caused, among other things, by a difficult life situation – the spokesperson explains.
According to the experts, the defendant requires addiction treatment.
Jakub G. faced a sentence of between one and ten years in prison. The prosecutor’s office said:
Because of his diminished capacity at the time of the crime, under Article 60 § 6(2) of the Criminal Code, the court could have applied extraordinary mitigation of the sentence, consisting of imposing a sentence below the statutory minimum—in this case, below one year. The court did not use this option.
During the trial, the defendant admitted committing the crime and expressed remorse. He also apologized to the injured parties.
He will serve his prison sentence under a therapeutic program.
The prosecutor deemed the verdict fair.
We reported more extensively on the entire case in the article Driver sped in a bus full of children. “He did not react to the screams.” He drove into a house and rammed several cars.