Youth gang terror

Hall attendant beaten up: “That was really violent”

The sports park in Hüttenbrennergasse(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

The area around the sports park in Graz's Hüttenbrennergasse is known as a social hotspot, with dangerous incidents occurring time and again. In February, a gang of youths attacked hall attendant Christian R. because they had been expelled from the sports park. The 55-year-old was seriously injured. He tells us here how he is doing today.

Christian R. (55) is a hall attendant at the Graz sports park. However, he has been through hell in recent weeks. The ringleader of a gang of young people with a migrant background, who are always up to mischief in Hüttenbrennergasse and cause police interventions, headbutted him so hard that his nose broke three times.

How did this happen?
"We'd noticed the lads for a while because they were always causing a fuss. That's why they were banned from the hall." But they didn't care. The situation escalated in February: they wanted to watch a basketball game. But the players themselves refused the group entry due to various incidents.

They didn't want to take this lying down and tried their luck with hall attendant Christian R., who was sitting in his room in the sports park at the time, which is secured by a glass front including an intercom function. "One of them said he didn't understand me, I should come out. Which I did," says the 55-year-old. He then explained to them again that they had no business in the hall and looked towards the exit. 

Christian R. shortly after his operation(Bild: Christian R.)

Attackers ran away
"As soon as I turned my head back, one of them gave me a violent headbutt in the face. Witnesses helped me straight away, the police came too." The attackers ran away. After he was admitted to hospital, it was established that his nose had been broken three times and a nerve had also been damaged, which had changed his facial features.

"It's not yet certain whether this will come back," says Christian R. In any case, an operation was unavoidable. "What's more, I have to wear a mask with an alarm function at night due to my life-threatening breathing interruptions. That wasn't possible for four weeks after the operation. That was really tough."

As soon as I turned my head back, one of them gave me a violent headbutt in the face. Witnesses helped me straight away and the police came too.

Hallenwart Christian R. 

Christian R. has since returned to work. The boys who did this to him have been identified, but the investigation is still ongoing, as police press spokesman Fritz Grundnig confirmed in response to a Krone inquiry. It is feared that they cannot be prosecuted due to their young age: "One of the five suspects is 14 years old, the others are under 14," says Grundnig - and would therefore be of criminal age.