Trial in Feldkirch

Acquittal in doubt

The 20-year-old was charged with aggravated robbery, coercion and incitement to give false testimony and sat before Judge Sabrina Tagwercher on Thursday.(Bild: Chantall Dorn)

The contradictory statements of all those involved were to the advantage of the defendant with a criminal record at the trial at Feldkirch Regional Court. But he still has to go to prison.

The 20-year-old defendant already has five entries in his criminal record. At the trial on Thursday, however, the man from Unterland was acquitted of the charges of aggravated robbery, coercion and incitement to give false testimony. The presiding judge, Sabrina Tagwercher, ruled that the statements were too contradictory for the panel of lay judges to reach a guilty verdict.

Accusation: attacking and robbing young people
The defendant was accused of spraying a 17-year-old teenager with pepper spray at Riedenburg train station in Bregenz on March 17 and then taking several grams of cannabis from him. In the course of this, he is said to have verbally abused the victim's cousin, who was also present, and coerced him into making a false statement to the police.

The witnesses' statements are so contradictory that they are not sufficient for a conviction for aggravated robbery and dangerous threats.

Verteidiger Stefan Harg

Bild: Chantall Dorn

However, the accused denied this at the trial on Thursday. "It was self-defense," the 20-year-old defended himself. He had only used the pepper spray because he had been threatened with a knife by his opponent. The fact that he had stolen drugs or something else from the 17-year-old was also a lie. The versions of the alleged victim and his cousin about the course of events and the background to the crime are varied and ultimately not very credible.

Prosecutor interrupts witness during testimony
For public prosecutor Manfred Melchhammer, the versions sound so implausible that he interrupts the cousin called as a witness during his testimony: "You do know that you have already been convicted of giving false evidence and aiding and abetting in this case?" In the end, the substrate was not sufficient for the panel of lay judges to find him guilty as charged.

Nevertheless, the man of Turkish origin has to spend six months in prison because he has violated probation conditions several times in the past.