Princess Mette-Marit's son has been sentenced to four years in prison for rape and ill-treatment

A court in Oslo has sentenced Marius Borg Høiby, son of Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, to four years in prison for two rapes and mistreatment of one of her ex-girlfriends.

The prosecution had requested seven years and seven months' imprisonment for 39 offences, while the defence had requested the acquittal of the most serious charges and had stated that it was prepared to accept a sentence of less than one and a half years for a number of offences recognized by the accused, including threats and the transport of marijuana.

Four counts of rape

Høiby was charged with four alleged crimes of rape, two of which have been found proven by the court, one in the basement of the Crown Princes' Skaugum Palace on the outskirts of Oslo and the other in the victim's apartment. There are related videos and, according to the verdict, the images show that the women were not aware at the time of the attacks.

In addition to the prison sentence, Høiby must pay the victims 640,000 Norwegian kronor (about EUR 58 000) in compensation.

His son Mette-Marit's defense has announced that he will take time to consider the sentence before deciding whether to appeal.

In pre-trial detention

The accused has followed the reading of the sentence from prison, where he has been since 2 February, when he was arrested for new offences, including violating the ban on visiting one of the victims, who has on several occasions requested that he be able to comply with the precautionary measure at home, but has been rejected by the justice system because  there is arisk of recidivism .

In recent days, the defendant has again applied for house arrest on the grounds of his mother's delicate state of health, who is awaiting lung transplant as a result of the aggravation of chronic pulmonary fibrosis diagnosed in 2018. However, an appellate court has overturned a favourable decision previously issued by another instance.