Brazen action

Prison toilet flooded out of boredom

The defendant was bored, so he started a fire and then caused flooding.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

A prisoner (27) had to stand trial for his brazen action in Feldkirch prison (Vorarlberg). He had caused a lot of "action" in the cell. 

The offender, who is on early retirement due to a mental illness, pleaded guilty to only part of the charges against him. The 27-year-old claims in court that he had things under control.

The case concerns two incidents in the previous year, when the man with several previous convictions was behind bars for aggravated robbery. Bored, he made a joke of it in his cell by putting heaps of toilet paper into the ventilation shaft and setting it alight. As a result, not only the defendant but also other inmates have to be evacuated from their cells due to the heavy smoke. Because the surveillance camera in the other cell disturbed him, he blocked the toilet with items of clothing and subsequently flooded the room. The 27-year-old is again taken to another cell.

Although he does not cause any material damage there, he threatens the prison officers: "Be glad I don't know where you live. Otherwise I'd kill you all. I have nothing to lose!" An investigation finally reveals that the accused has suffered from a severe mental disorder since childhood and that he is highly aggressive, as evidenced by incidents against nursing staff in hospital. This is also the reason why the man from Vorarlberg has been receiving a disability pension for years.

Reasonable
According to primary physician Reinhard Haller, the man was sane at the time of the crime in August. For this reason, the accused was not committed to a forensic therapy center, but was sentenced to 20 months in prison for serious damage to property and making dangerous threats.