It was in mid-November that a man in his 20s was assaulted by five other men on Södergatan in Helsingborg. There, according to the police's preliminary investigation protocol, he was stabbed several times in the back and chest, kicked on the body and head, among other things.
"It doesn't seem to have been much more than the victim looking a little too long at a person who has perceived it as some kind of staring. It's a trifle thing that has made this happen," said District Attorney Carolina Diaz Bernal.
According to the indictment, the man was threatened with death by one of the suspected men the day before the attempted murder. The next day, that man, along with four other men, allegedly pursued the stated threat and attempted to murder the young man.
Wanted to defend himself
On the day of the attempted murder, the victim was wearing a knuckle iron, which he is charged with.
"His explanation is that he was scared and wanted to somehow make sure he could defend himself," says Carolina Diaz Bernal.
The very day after the attempted murder, two people were arrested and detained on suspicion of attempted murder, a third was arrested in absentia and could be arrested a few weeks later.
The search continued
In the hunt for the last perpetrators, the police used so-called photo confrontations, which are based on witnesses being shown pictures of several unknown people and one that police suspect - in the hope that the witness will point out the right person.
"Then you've worked on identifying people and it's taken some time. The others have been received a month after the attempted murder, the prosecutor said.
A sixth person was initially suspected of attempted murder but there the prosecutor has dropped the suspicions. The five suspected perpetrators have denied any wrongdoing throughout the course of the investigation.