Car driver struck

Witness at the trial: “Victim was covered in blood”

The brutal incident happened at this junction in the Lehen district of Salzburg.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

A driver went berserk when a passer-by knocked on his hood. Punches and kicks to the face led to three fractures and a conviction in Salzburg provincial court.

An everyday situation sent the defendant, who had a criminal record, into a rage and ultimately to prison. On February 12, at lunchtime, the Bosnian (37) was standing in his white car at the junction of Ignaz-Harrer-Straße and Rudolf-Biebl-Straße in the center of Salzburg - with a blood alcohol level of one. He wanted to drive off and rolled up to the crosswalk. A passer-by crossing the road then knocked him on the hood.

Victim mentally impaired

This caused the driver to flinch. "He got out, walked purposefully to the victim and hit him with his fists," described an eyewitness in the regional court on Tuesday. "That was shocking for me. Nobody did anything, so I got out of the car and started screaming. But he just carried on." There were five or six punches and two more kicks against the victim, who was lying on the ground, the witness said. She then even stood in front of the car because the thug wanted to drive away. "The victim was covered in blood," she recalled. There was blood splattered everywhere, she was also told at the trial. What the woman recognized, but the defendant apparently did not, was that the victim is severely mentally impaired and thinks like a child between the ages of 6 and 9 - this was also noticeable at the trial. "I was afraid of the car, that's why I knocked," the young man said.

"I'm sorry," emphasized the defendant, explaining that he was stressed at work and with his fiancée. That's why he had been drinking and reacted like that. The court knew no mercy: the non-appealable sentence was two years' unconditional imprisonment.