Mr. Yosef Tzvi Barkan, a Jerusalem exterminator, was sentenced to a three-year prison term by the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday, 11 Shevat for causing the deaths of Avigail and Yael Gross A”H of Givat Mordechai. In addition, Barkan is required to pay the parents NIS 200,000 in compensation. The money has already been collected by the court.

While Barkan agreed to the plea bargain agreement weeks ago, the court proceeding took place this week and he was officially found guilty of causing the deaths of the girls by negligence.

Barkan exterminated the family’s Givat Mordechai home and he used unauthorized substances, which led to the deaths and sever illness of brothers, who Baruch Hashem recovered.

The court accepted the plea bargain after hearing expert witness testimony that following an accident, Barkan suffered diminished cognitive function including his lack of ability to properly evaluate the risks posed by the substances he used.

Justice Rivka Feldman in her ruling wrote she is accepting the agreement after it was found acceptable to the family. She stated from her perspective the defendant is a “normative person”, and “good and honest person who will not likely every find a way to forgive himself for the death of the girls by his actions”.

The court added that after consulting with the family, it is of the opinion that the sentence is fair and therefore, the agreement was accepted.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)