A British banking executive has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of a 19-year-old in Lisbon, Portugal. Daniel Dunbar, 30, was found guilty of killing Daniel Galhanas with a broken bottle in the city's Bairro Alto neighborhood on October 14, 2023.
Dunbar admitted to assaulting Galhanas but claimed he acted in self-defense, believing one of his friends had been attacked. He also stated he did not realize he was holding the murder weapon when he struck the teenager. However, the court dismissed his defense, with lead judge Armandina Silva Lopes ruling that Dunbar acted with "clear and reckless indifference for his victim's life" and showed "no hesitation" in the attack. The judge noted that Dunbar fled the scene without offering any assistance after the victim sustained fatal injuries to his carotid artery and jugular vein.
The court ordered Dunbar to pay approximately £200,000 in compensation to Galhanas' family. The 15-year sentence will account for the time Dunbar has already spent in custody since his arrest in June 2023 and extradition from the UK to Portugal in May 2023.
Dunbar, a university graduate who previously worked in the Investor Management Department at the Royal Bank of Canada, was among a group of friends who confronted another group of individuals they believed were assaulting a man. Video footage of the incident showed Galhanas, identified as a police mechanic and not part of the group Dunbar's friends initially confronted, collapsing from his injuries. Galhanas' family lawyer, Joao Biscaia, has stated that the family considers the sentence "far too lenient" and intends to appeal.
Under Portuguese law, Dunbar could have faced between 12 and 25 years in prison. Factors considered in determining the final sentence included Dunbar's early return flight from Faro Airport to the UK and his lack of prior criminal convictions in Portugal. The trial judges described the sentence as "fair, adequate and proportional."