Swiss court raises nitrous oxide crash sentence to six and a half years

Switzerland’s cantonal court has increased the driver’s prison sentence to six years and six months over a fatal crash involving nitrous oxide, SRF reported. It convicted him of intentional homicide and multiple counts of attempted homicide, replacing the first-instance conviction for negligent homicide.

The crash happened on the A2 motorway near Arisdorf in November 2021. Five young men, aged between 16 and 18, were travelling from Basel towards Bern. They consumed nitrous oxide and filmed themselves in the car. Footage showed the driver inhaling the gas shortly before the car hit a guardrail. One passenger died and the others were injured.

The driver, now 23, appealed his original sentence of four years and nine months. The second-instance court also ordered him to pay higher compensation to the dead passenger’s relatives and his injured friends, in several five-figure amounts.