Judge María Sonsoles Sanchidrián Velayos was rushed to hospital after being stabbed with a screwdriver by a man she had sentenced unfavourably.

The incident took place at the beginning of the week in Santa María la Real de Nieva (Segovia), where the victim presides in the local law courts as judge.

The 37-year-old victim received the wound to her side causing a pneumothorax, which is when air enters the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Her conditions is described as serious.

According to the authorities, the man approached the victim shortly before 14.00h in front of the law court and asked her if she was Sonsoles Velayos and when she replied affirmatively, he struck. He was arrested almost immediately (law courts have Guardia Civil officers on duty just within the entrance).

Apparently, the grudge that the man had was that he had been ordered to pay 1,000 euros in court costs in a Civil-Law case that had been heard there.

The Chairman of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León, José Luis Concepción, condemned the assault and complained of insufficient security measures in the regions law courts.

(News: María la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla y Leon)