After a marital dispute

Garden shed set on fire in Vienna: Eight months in prison

The deflagration of spilled petrol had caused massive damage to the building.

(Bild: LPD Wien)

The defendant accepts his sentence in tears at the Vienna provincial court: Two years of partial imprisonment for trying to burn down his wife's garden shed at Easter. The pre-trial detention must have left its mark. He begs the judge: "I can't stand it here anymore."

It was Easter Sunday: a 57-year-old man had just lost his job and was arguing violently with his wife. He tried to drown his sorrows in alcohol at a petrol station in Vienna-Döbling. Where the momentous idea was finally born - he planned to set fire to his wife's garden shed. 

Garden shed torched in Vienna-Döbling
The Viennese filled a canister with petrol and made his way to the hut in the allotment garden estate. He also wrote a farewell letter and called his son after the arson. "I told him to tell his mother, my wife, that her garden shed was on fire," the 57-year-old confessed in the Vienna provincial court. 

"I can't stand it here."
"He had psychological problems and it happened against the backdrop of a not inconsiderable level of alcoholization," his defence lawyer tries to put things into perspective. He is nevertheless guilty of attempted arson. Judge Christian Gneist announces the verdict of the panel of lay judges: two years, partially suspended, for attempted arson, of which the Viennese must serve eight months in prison. 

What interests the unemployed man most: "Do I go home or do I stay?" Whereupon Mr. Rat has to disappoint the 57-year-old - although the accused has already served four and a half months in custody, three and a half are still to come. Tears flow from the Viennese: "I can't stand it here." But he accepts the sentence, the public prosecutor asks for time to think. With teary eyes, he is finally taken back to his cell by a prison guard.