18 months in prison

Beatings by own son: “Never a good person”

The Viennese pensioner suffered hematomas and other injuries.

(Bild: doidam10 - stock.adobe.com)

For years, an 18-year-old is said to have insulted, threatened and beaten his mother. He even set his dog on the 64-year-old. And his grandmother was not spared either - but the young Viennese was acquitted ...

The public prosecutor in Vienna's provincial court made a wild accusation: continued violence, dangerous threats, attempted robbery. "The whole thing is based on a very violent domestic dispute", explains the prosecutor. An 18-year-old is said to have insulted, threatened and beaten his own mother for years. 

The accused was always a problem child
"He was never a good person," says the 64-year-old about her own son on the witness stand. "It started when he was 15 or 16. The older he got, the worse it was." Even at school, the now 18-year-old is said to have caused problems and she constantly had to pay for extra lessons. He also never tried to get a job. 

Violence against the grandmother too
"How often did he hit her?" Mr. Rat wants to know from the pensioner. "Enough," was the short answer. For example, the young Viennese also threatened his mother: "I'm going to kill you, you old h... You've lived long enough anyway." The 64-year-old is said to have experienced violence from her son almost every day - until she had enough: she threw the accused out of the house and he stayed with his grandmother. 

He comes in the night and knocks on the door and shouts: Give me money! Give me money!

Mutter (64) und Opfer des Angeklagten 

And he is said to have used the same tone with the 86-year-old woman, beating her too. He also set his dog - a young husky - on his grandmother. The old lady now sits trembling on the witness stand in front of the judge, struggling to understand him. But her questioning doesn't last long either: she tearfully announces that she doesn't want to testify against her grandson. 

However, the 18-year-old's mother provides all the more detailed insight into the family life, which is probably more than broken. Money was also a big issue: "He comes in the night and knocks on the door and shouts: 'Give me money! Give me money!" The police had already been called several times, and the property manager had also complained. 

"She hits me and then I fight back"
The defendant comments on his mother's statement with a shake of the head and a contemptuous laugh. He claims to have only ever defended himself against the 64-year-old: "Normally she has to take tablets, but she doesn't take them. She pushes me, she hits me and then I fight back. My dog is also a problem. She doesn't like him." She had invented the large number of violent incidents. 

Suspended sentence for 18-year-old
"More than implausible", was the opinion not only of the public prosecutor, but also of the jury. The young Viennese man receives an 18-month suspended sentence for the violence against his mother. His defense lawyer immediately files an appeal and an appeal for annulment. He is finally acquitted of the charges against his grandmother - after all, she did not want to incriminate her grandson ...