"Arc mile trial"

With broken bottle against neck: attempted murder

The attack happened in front of a Bogen restaurant (symbolic image).(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Decisive day in the "Bogenmeilen trial" in Tyrol: A Somali man (26) slashed the neck of a Tyrolean man with a broken bottle. The jury court ruled on Wednesday for attempted murder. The expert witness had previously emphasized: "It was pure coincidence that no blood vessels were injured", the victim could be dead.

As reported, the accused night owl from Somalia got into an argument with a local man (44) in Innsbruck's "Bogenmeile" at 4 a.m. on August 5. The Tyrolean put his beer bottle aside in front of the pub, but the accused broke his bottle on the edge of the sidewalk and went for his opponent's neck.

The accused was taken away during a break.(Bild: Andreas Moser, Krone KREATIV)

On Wednesday, the forensic expert had her say, she spoke of a 15 centimeter and a four centimeter long wound on the left side of the neck. "The cuts went all the way to the neck muscles. It was a coincidence that no blood vessels were injured." If a vein had been opened, it sucks in air in such cases, which enters the heart chamber - often fatally.

Someone who launches an attack like this accepts the death of their opponent.

Der Staatsanwalt im Schlussplädoyer

"Accepting the death of the opponent"
In his closing statement, the public prosecutor emphasized that someone who launches such an attack accepts the death of their opponent. Therefore, an attempted murder could be assumed. The defendant had claimed self-defense, but no attack by the Tyrolean can be seen on a surveillance video. "He hit me with his fist beforehand," was the Somali's statement. However, there was no mention of this during earlier questioning.

The defense lawyer pointed out that the accused tended to walk backwards in the moments before the escalation. "Because he was afraid," she also brought the self-defense variant into play.

Further offenses charged 
The jury also considered the Somali's other offenses to be proven: in a house on Mitterweg, he also attacked an opponent with a bottle (in this case not broken beforehand), which ended up being harmless. He had sexually abused a defenceless drug addict who was sleeping with him.

The jury in the "Bogenmeilen" case decided on attempted murder and 17 years in prison (not legally binding). The Somali man was also ordered to pay 5000 euros in compensation to the victim, who is still suffering today.