Now in court

Married couple attacked parking attendant

When issuing a parking ticket, the defendant allegedly knocked the pad out of the parking attendant's hand.

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

Last year, a Tyrolean couple (41 and 31 years old) got quite rowdy in the Tyrolean Außerfern region when a parking attendant wanted to fill out a parking ticket. Both ended up in Innsbruck Regional Court on Thursday.

The incident, which led to the charge of resisting public authority, took place in Reutte in mid-October last year. On that day, the 41-year-old stopped his car somewhere between the bicycle lane and the parking lot. The parking attendant admonished him for this. This was followed by a tumultuous situation, which was also confirmed by a witness.

"Threat" is not supposed to have been a threat
The parking attendant asked the man to keep his distance from her. He would "give her some space" and she would "take one", the 41-year-old is said to have threatened. He did not deny this at the trial, but nevertheless pleaded not guilty. "It wasn't a threat, Judge," he emphasized several times.

His wife (31) pleaded guilty, at least in part, and was remorseful. She no longer knew exactly what had happened. She believed that she had only "waved her hands wildly", possibly accidentally hitting the pad for issuing the parking tickets.

It doesn't matter what the sender means, but what the receiver feels about a statement and how it is received.

Die Staatsanwältin

The parking attendant saw it differently: "The woman definitely pushed me and pulled my hand backwards, in which I was holding the parking ticket." The threat made by the first defendant was also clear to her. "I was really scared at the time."

Some verdicts not yet final
This was also the view of the public prosecutor: "It doesn't matter what the sender means, but how it is received by the recipient." Objectively, there was no doubt that it was a threat. The judge agreed with this assessment and sentenced the man to a fine of 880 euros, half of which was conditional and not legally binding. His wife received a diversion and a fine of 1500 euros.