Man Acquitted of a Six-Month Prison Sentence for Being Stuck in Traffic with His Former Partner
The GPS bracelet started beeping when roadworks left his car stopped at a roundabout in Churriana de la Vega, right in front of his former partner’s vehicle
A man is driving along the A-338, near Santa Lucía Street in Churriana de la Vega, and traffic comes to a standstill because of roadworks. Then the electronic device that controls his restraining order starts beeping. When he looks up, he sees that the car stopped in front of his, held up by the same traffic jam, is being driven by his ex-partner. That beep, and those meters of asphalt between two immobilized vehicles, cost him a six-month prison sentence that the Provincial Court of Granada has just overturned.
A precautionary measure monitored by GPS
Since July 2023, the defendant had been subject to a precautionary measure ordered by Court No. 2 for Violence Against Women in Granada: a ban on approaching his ex-partner, her home, or her workplace within 500 meters, and a ban on communicating with her by any written, telephone, or telematic means. Compliance was monitored through a GPS device.
The encounter took place on November 14, 2025. The Criminal Division of the Granada Trial Court found it to be a breach of a precautionary measure under Article 468.2 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to six months in prison, special disqualification from the right to passive suffrage, payment of half the costs, and compensation of 1,000 euros for moral or psychological harm. In the same ruling, he was acquitted of the offense of threats.
The detail the prosecution itself had written
The ruling of the Provincial Court of Granada overturns the conviction based on a fact that appeared in the private prosecution’s brief: there, it was expressly stated that "the encounter was accidental".
The judges also point out that the oral trial was opened exclusively for the offense of breach, which left out of the debate the gesture the complainant attributed to the defendant from inside the car —"a throat-cutting gesture while staring fixedly and defiantly"—. Since the proceedings were not brought for threats, the appealed ruling did not establish that the gesture had any threatening meaning.
"He left as soon as the circumstances allowed him to"
The court rewrites the facts as proven and sets out a different sequence: the defendant was stopped by traffic congestion caused by the roadworks, the device sounded, he then noticed the presence of the other vehicle, and he left the scene as soon as he could do so.
The complainant herself testified at the hearing that the man left when traffic allowed it, something the judges interpret in a literal sense: he could not have done so before. With no deliberate approach and no voluntary stay at the scene, the Second Division considers that there is no breach to uphold.
Acquittal and costs to be borne ex officio in both instances
The ruling grants the appeal, overturns the decision issued in Summary Trial 58/2025, and acquits the appellant, with procedural costs in both instances to be borne ex officio. The 1,000-euro compensation set at first instance is also dismissed.
The ruling is not final: an appeal in cassation may be filed against it within five days, solely on grounds of legal error, pursuant to Article 847.1º b) in relation to Article 849.1 of the Criminal Procedure Act.