Trial postponed for settlement talks

The trial over the 2019 listeriosis outbreak, traced to contaminated carne mechada sold by the company Magrudis, was due to open on Friday, 16 October, at the Provincial Court of Seville. Judicial sources said the court asked the parties to narrow their differences before any hearing. The aim is a single agreement covering criminal and civil liability or, failing that, separate criminal and civil deals. The parties will meet again on Monday, 26 October, to finalise a deal or, if none is reached, to begin preliminary motions. Sources differ on the length of the delay: ten days in most accounts, and one more week in another.

Six defendants and the prosecution's position

Six people sit in the dock: four members of the family that ran Magrudis, the company's technical architect and the municipal veterinary inspector, who is a woman. The companies Magrudis SL and Elaborados Cárnicos Mario SL are also defendants, along with several insurers as direct civil liable parties. Seville city council is named as subsidiary civil liable party because of the inspector's work. Prosecutors seek up to 11.5 years for the father and one son, 10 years for the wife and the other son, and 1.5 years for the architect for document forgery. Prosecutors do not bring charges against the veterinary inspector, and the consumer association Facua acts as a private accuser.

José Antonio M.P.11.5

Sandro M.R.11.5

Mario M.R.10

Encarnación R.J.10

Sergio L.G. (architect)1.5

José Antonio M.P.

11.5 years

Sandro M.R.

11.5 years

Mario M.R.

10 years

Encarnación R.J.

10 years

Sergio L.G. (architect)

1.5 years

Data from the article text

Insurers and the hospital claim

The parties have spent weeks meeting prosecutors and the two insurers of Seville city council to agree how compensation will be paid. Germán Grima of Ateneo Abogados, who represents most of the injured, said the insurers had not put forward any formal settlement offer. According to Grima, the insurers had first proposed guaranteeing more than 2.2 million euros, but only if the Junta de Andalucía dropped its claim for hospital costs. That claim is put at 3.8 million euros by EL PAÍS. On Tuesday, 13 October, the regional government agreed to withdraw the claim if the other parties reached a deal. EL PAÍS reports that the insurers still did not move, with one offering up to six million euros and the other 1.2 million euros. The city council has not made a move either.

The twins and the 8 million euro claim

Twin boys, now seven years old, were born prematurely in August 2019 after their mother became ill with listeria while pregnant, according to EL PAÍS. The mother had eaten a sandwich of carne mechada during the pregnancy, a detail reported by EL MUNDO. The family's lawyer, Manuel Parrilla, said the claim is at least 8 million euros and will rise because the boys need care around the clock. One twin is in a wheelchair, cannot speak or move, and has a 75% disability rating, while the other has a 40% rating, according to a report from the Institute of Legal Medicine. Parrilla criticised the city council's stance.

“We feel absolutely abandoned by the city council.”

The other injured claimants are owed about 6.12 million euros in total, according to EL PAÍS, which counts 243 injured and affected people plus the families of the four people who died and the seven miscarriages.