30 months in prison

Judiciary toughens prison sentence for Treppelweg offender

It happened here, on the Treppelweg near the Salzach in Hallein.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

The "Krone" newspaper reported several times on the Treppelweg case in Salzburg: A walker was recklessly hit from behind on her bike at the end of September 2023. She fell, suffered serious injuries and is still struggling with the consequences today. The Higher Regional Court increased the sentence for a Serbian man (45) precisely because of the serious permanent consequences. 

For a long time, it was unclear who had injured the woman so seriously on Treppelweg in Hallein. Until a DNA trace led to the suspect, a homeless Serbian with a criminal record. According to the indictment, he had "deliberately" rammed into the woman with his bicycle. The 45-year-old vehemently denied the accusation of grievous bodily harm with permanent consequences and came up with an adventurous version involving an ominous Riki.

Unconditional instead of partial
The court of first instance did not believe this and sentenced the Serb to 24 months in prison, eight of which were unconditional. However, the public prosecutor's office wanted a higher sentence and lodged an appeal. Now, at the appeal hearing on Monday at the Linz Higher Regional Court, the judges upheld the prosecution's appeal and commuted the suspended sentence to an unconditional prison sentence of 30 months.

The main reason for this was the serious long-term consequences. The victim has to live with scars for the rest of her life and continues to suffer physical and psychological consequences.