The problematic trajectory of the two minors arrested for the Manresa crime

BarcelonaAbsence of paternal figures, lack of supervision during childhood, school absenteeism, difficulty in emotional management, impulsivity, low commitment to society. These were some of the conclusions of the psychologists who had treated the two minors aged 15 and 16 arrested last week in Manresa for the fatal stabbing of a 45-year-old man. Both had criminal records and both, as ARA has been able to reconstruct from various sources, have had a troubled childhood and have caused constant conflicts in the centers where they were educated, from which this complex situation had been repeatedly warned about.

The psychologists' conclusions are some of the traits that define the life history of these two youths. P.O. is a boy who at the time of the events was on supervised release after an attempted homicide. Specifically, from May 6 to July 31, he was interned in a juvenile center for these acts. At the beginning of August, he was released on provisional liberty and only four days before the crime, he was arrested for another robbery. Only two days before this incident, P.O. had had a session with the therapist who was helping him to reintegrate.

Raised by his mother, who had him at a very young age, P.O. has had a history of insubordination at the high schools in the Bages region he attended, to the point that some center contacted social services to request the withdrawal of custody from the mother, a measure that never arrived, according to sources consulted by ARA. His school trajectory has been marked by absenteeism, to the point that he was referred to a Shared Schooling Unit (UEC) in Manresa, where he also did not attend regularly. Sources consulted by this newspaper also speak of conflicts with the educators of the UEC and with the high school faculty, and he also did not attend the scheduled monitoring hours at the second educational center. Sometimes these absences were justified by legal guardians without providing medical notes.

Chronic situation

In turn, O.A., the other detained minor, was also raised within a dysfunctional family, having his grandmother as a maternal reference, within the framework of an immigrant family, even though he was born in Catalonia. His story is parallel to that of P.O., with school absenteeism both at the high school and at the UEC. Despite the various attempts by teachers and educators to try to put him on the right path or to request more intervention from social services, this situation became chronic, narrate sources familiar with the situation, to the point that both spent many hours in a squatted building, precisely the place where they were arrested. One of the conditions of P.O.'s supervised release was, in fact, that he had to live at home and live a family life.

These elements such as school absenteeism or the lack of a united family nucleus are some of the main risk factors pointed out by studies from the Department of Justice to explain how minors can come to commit crimes. In their cases, people who have dealt with them closely lament the constant warnings about their situation and the fact that no solution was found until the critical end of the murder.

That day, during the Manresa main festival, P.O. and O.A. were part of a group that confronted another group, where the victim was, according to police sources. The confrontation was repeated in the early morning in front of the home of one of the people who was part of the victim's group and ended with the tragic stabbing of Carles Vilajosana, a man well known in the Bages region. Police sources rule out that more arrests will be made for this crime. Now, the two minors are interned in a juvenile detention center.

"Comprehensive prevention"

Precisely, in light of this situation, this Monday several social movements from Manresa have called for a strategy of "integral prevention" following the crime. The Popular Movement of Manresa and the community safety initiative A l'Aguait held a public appearance to present a series of measures to address a situation that they consider "is not representative" of the violence that exists in the city.

"It is the most extreme example of social violence that, unfortunately, is also present in our city," stated Nora Miralles, from A l'Aguait. The attendees criticized that there are political and economic sectors "interested in fueling fear, distorting and criminalizing entire communities and their youth, and this is not helping."