"Didn't want to cook"

Teenager threatened caregiver with a knife

The 15-year-old made his first entry in the criminal record - but he is still young and capable of learning.(Bild: Chantal Dorn, Krone KREATIV)

A 15-year-old caused quite a stir at the Vorarlberg Children's Village in Bregenz at the beginning of the year. On Friday, the young lad had to answer for his stabbing at the regional court. 

"My client simply had a bad day," said the fruit's lawyer during the trial at Feldkirch Regional Court. The "bad day" refers to January 22 of this year. The incident took place in a kitchen at the Vorarlberg Children's Village in Bregenz. There, the boy grabs a kitchen knife, stands in front of the social worker and threatens: "I'll stab all the carers!"

The 30-year-old remained calm and asked him to wash up the knife and put it down again. To which the accused replied: "I'm not your brownie. I'm not going to wash the knife!" This was not a threat, but a statement, he added.

During the trial, the young defendant justified his outburst as follows: "I should have been cooking that day, but I didn't want to." There were a lot of things that didn't suit him at the time - it was just a bad day. He admits that he made the threat. However, it was more an expression of displeasure: "Because I actually quite like the supervisor anyway."

Actually, I quite like the supervisor anyway.

Der 15-jährige Angeklagte

However, a knife was definitely not involved, the accused claimed at the trial. Which the witness denies. However, she qualifies: "I didn't know what he wanted with the knife. He could have been cutting bread."

Entry in the criminal record
Although this puts the offense of making a dangerous threat into perspective for public prosecutor Philipp Höfle and judge Christoph Stadler, the 15-year-old receives his first entry in the criminal record. The judge also explains why: "You've already had three diversions. One even because of the same paragraph. Now it's simply over."

The council imposes a fine of 320 euros on the offender, half of which is suspended. The sentence is already final.