Acquittal in doubt

Father defended son against attacker

Judge Sabrina Tagwercher heard two very different accounts and acquitted the defendant.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

A 41-year-old German man had to answer for serious coercion and assault at the regional court in Feldkirch on Wednesday. He was acquitted in case of doubt.

After the defendant's 17-year-old son was beaten up on a soccer pitch in Hohenems, the defendant did not hesitate for long and showed the attackers that he was no good for cherries. According to public prosecutor Karin Krehn, the 41-year-old powerhouse allegedly pulled out a gun, fired it and made it clear: "Nobody is going to attack my son!" In the course of this, the enraged man is also said to have assaulted a woman.

Family took up the pursuit

But from the beginning. It was May 14 when the accused's cell phone rang at around 9 pm. On the line is his 17-year-old son, calling from the soccer pitch in Hohenems. Excited, he tells his father that he has just been beaten by an adult, a man about 30 years old. The man had moved away briefly and was now about to attack him again. For a trivial reason, as it turns out.

"I had previously called the attacker by the wrong name, which I didn't know," said the victim. While the worried father instructs his offspring to keep him informed by cell phone, the 41-year-old security guard makes his way to the sports field with the junior's mother. Once there, the perpetrator has already wisely made his escape.

The family then set off in pursuit by car. In a meadow not far away, there is finally a showdown, which, as expected, the family of the victim describes differently to the other witnesses. "I got out of the car and shouted at one of the suspects, asking where the colleague who had beaten my son was," said the defendant at the trial on Wednesday. However, he neither drew a weapon nor had one with him.

Contradictory accounts
The accused also denies the accusation that he hit the woman in the face, causing her to fall. "When she came towards me and waved her hands in front of me, I told her several times to keep her distance. Because she ignored this, I grabbed her face and pushed her aside."

To smooth things over, he then apologized for his brusque manner and tried to explain the situation from the perspective of a father who fears for his child. That was all.

As the accounts of the opposing parties were more than contradictory, Judge Sabrina Tagwercher acquitted the defendant in case of doubt.