Attack from behind

Because of cell phone: Girl kicks 84-year-old to hospital

A 15-year-old girl has to answer to the court of lay assessors in Vienna.

(Bild: zVG, Adobe Stock, Krone KREATIV,)

Because she had dropped her smartphone, a 15-year-old girl attacked a pensioner out of nowhere at Heiligenstadt station. The accidental victim suffers numerous fractures, bruises and lacerations as a result of the unexpected "body check". During the trial, the 84-year-old waives her right to compensation for pain and suffering, the senior citizen only has one modest wish.

Mrs. S. waits patiently outside courtroom 22 in Vienna's Landl district for her witness statement. The 84-year-old is accompanied to the trial by her grandson. The young man is perhaps a few years older than the defendant - who is just 15 years old and has a tragic past: Violent father; despite her youth, already massive drug abuse that has led to multiple rescue missions in the past.

"That may be an explanation, but certainly not a justification for the shocking crime," the prosecutor begins, as a phone rings loudly in the courtroom. "What on earth are you doing with your cell phone?" Judge Andreas Hautz asks the teenager why she appears to be answering the call with a message while sitting in the dock.

What on earth are you doing with your cell phone?

Selbst im Prozess hantiert die Angeklagte mit dem Smartphone. Zum Unmut des Richters.

The cell phone was also the trigger for a senseless crime on October 30, 2023. Together with a friend, Deria(name changed) had just returned from the Czech Republic by train. She had had her nails done there and had consumed ecstasy and cannabis. At Heiligenstadt station, the girl - looking at her cell phone - brushed against the 84-year-old. The device fell to the ground, which led to a massive outburst of aggression.

Video cameras filmed the crime
For no reason, she ran after Ms. S. and kicked or pushed her hard in the back from behind. "A body check from behind," summarizes Mr. Rat. The surprising attack was captured on several video cameras. And it had serious consequences for the sprightly senior citizen, who landed unchecked on the stone floor: Broken jaw, broken cheekbone, fractured eye socket, several broken ribs, lacerations and bruises.

I could still hear the girls screaming as they flew down. They were screaming hysterically, scared for their cell phones.

Das 84-jährige Opfer sagte als Zeugin aus.

"I looked like a zombie," the pensioner recalls of her time in hospital. She only remembers fragments of the incident. "I could still hear the girls screaming as I flew down. They were screaming hysterically, scared of their cell phones." The victim waived compensation for pain and suffering. "I don't need anything. I want to put this behind me." She would only have liked to replace the dentures that broke on impact and cut her mouth. When Deria apologizes to her, the woman replies: "Do you know what that means for an 84-year-old? It's not easy."

"It was because of the drugs"
During the trial, witnesses reported loud shouting, swearing - which they did not want to repeat in the courtroom - and extremely aggressive behavior from the girls. "I'm normally a helpful person. That was because of the drugs, I took a lot," justifies the repentant teenager, who now wants to find an apprenticeship. The verdict of the court of lay assessors - 10 months conditional with instructions imposed - is not legally binding.