Victim ten years old

Teenager sentenced again after candy theft

On Thursday, the accused had to answer for his actions in the jury courtroom at Linz Provincial Court - for the second time.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

A serious bout of youthful bravado on Halloween 2023 was still having an effect at Linz Regional Court on Thursday. One of the three young people who allegedly robbed a ten-year-old of sweets was sentenced again in the second round of court proceedings. This time he received the minimum sentence, six months conditional. 

Some teenage friends had arranged to meet for Halloween 2023 in the Biesenfeldsiedlung in Urfahr. In the course of this, three teenagers had probably chased a then ten-year-old, cornered him and taken a bag of sweets from him.

Already in the second trial
Because one of them had a baseball bat with him, it was a case of armed robbery. Two of the three accused perpetrators had already been convicted and one acquitted. However, one of the convicts had lodged an appeal and the Higher Regional Court ordered a retrial. This took place on Thursday.

Eight witnesses, many versions
Eight witnesses were called to clarify whether the last defendant should actually be found guilty of robbery. Accordingly, the judges and lay assessors heard many different accounts of the events in the Biesenfeld housing estate in Linz.

After a delay, the verdict was finally reached: six months' conditional imprisonment for the now 16-year-old. The sentence is not final. It is therefore possible that the case will return to the Higher Regional Court.