Gjert Ingebrigtsen is sentenced to 15 days of conditional imprisonment – a significantly milder punishment than the two and a half years of imprisonment that the prosecutor has requested.
He will also have to pay damages to his daughter of 10,000 kronor – also significantly less than the 200,000 kronor that the prosecutor has requested.
Acquitted of assault on son
The star coach is acquitted, on the other hand, on all points regarding assault on his son Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen is acquitted because the court has found reasonable doubt about the prosecutor's allegations. The court has not found sufficient evidence that Gjert Ingebrigtsen has acted in a way that constitutes abuse, say lawyers John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang to VG about the allegations against son Jakob.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen has always denied the crime.
In the decision, the court writes, among other things:
”As the court assesses it, one side's version of family life and the relationship between the defendant and Jakob is not more likely than the other's”.
This has been and will of course be a sad and very stressful thing for the Ingebrigtsen family. It has also affected the Norwegian Athletics Association and Norwegian athletics, says association chairman Runar Bålsrud according to NTB.
Can appeal
The court has assessed the evidence differently than we have. We have 14 days to appeal and will now read the verdict and familiarize ourselves with it, says prosecutor Angjerd Kvernenes to NRK and continues:
– We have recently received the verdict and must read up on it before we can hold the court's assessment of the evidence against the argumentation and conclusion they came up with.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen has not paused his coaching career during the trial.
The 59-year-old is, among other things, coach to middle-distance runners Narve Gilje Nordås, who competed in the Diamond League gala in Stockholm, and the Portuguese Jose Carlos Pinto.
Son Jakob Ingebrigtsen has two Olympic Games gold medals and two World Championship gold medals outdoors and is one of Norway's biggest sports stars.
