Kicked in the head

Judge denies punching duo “most important wish”

"I was horrified by the outbreak of violence", said a 20-year-old friend of the two defendants (both 21 years old), who was also a witness to a fight at the Kebabstand in front of the A1 disco in Linz. The two boys had punched and kicked a 25-year-old man, but their greatest wish in court was denied.

"I ask for a lenient sentence below the duty of disclosure", said the defense lawyer and the lawyer of the two 21-year-olds. There was no dispute that they had struck. However, there were "selective memories", as Judge Walter Eichinger put it, especially with regard to the kicks of a 20-year-old who was still 20 when the crime was committed, for which he showed little understanding.

The duo could remember some details well, but not the criminally relevant incidents - i.e. who threw the first punch or whether kicks were thrown at the 25-year-old lying on the ground.

Queuing was the cause of the argument
In any case, the argument at around five o'clock in the morning was about the fact that the victim did not let one of the boys and his acquaintance - she was not named as a witness, by the way - in front of him quickly enough at the kebab stand. Then a remark about the 21-year-old's purple sweater - whether he was an Austria Vienna fan - was allegedly made and that was apparently enough for him to strike his opponent with his fist. 

Incriminated by witnesses
A scuffle then broke out on the ground, the 21-year-old punched the victim's head several times and the then 20-year-old testified that he wanted to separate the opponents. He did not want to remember two or more kicks to the 25-year-old's head, he admitted to hitting him. However, several witnesses had seen the kicks.

The duo (21) waited nervously for the trial at the Linz regional court(Bild: Markus Schütz)

All drunk
All those involved were "halfway drunk", as one witness put it, the accused spoke of five to six beers during the pre-drinking session and then mixed drinks for 100 euros in the disco. The victim's recollection was poor: "I only saw the asphalt on the floor", but clearly felt the kicks to the head. Photographs showed the condition after the attack and even now a scar can be seen on the root of his nose.

10,000 euros transferred
The prosecution charged grievous bodily harm with serious permanent consequences, with a sentence of one to ten years in prison. The defence lawyers pointed out that the defendants had already paid 10,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering "without negotiations" and had also apologized again before the trial. The scar was not considered to be massively disfiguring and therefore a lenient conviction for grievous bodily harm was demanded.

Young age provided some protection
The panel of lay judges agreed with the defense attorneys on the length of the sentence and sentenced for "normal" grievous bodily harm, although they did not request that the sentence be kept below the limit of the duty to provide information, i.e. up to six months' imprisonment. The ten months' conditional imprisonment for both offenders now appears in the criminal record. The perpetrator was protected from a higher sentence by his age - he was not yet 21 when the crime was committed and was therefore still a young adult. The verdict is final.