From the courtroom

Constantly nagging neighbor grabbed by the collar

The defendant received a partially conditional fine.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall/Dorn, Krone KREATIV)

The accused allegedly pushed the annoying pensioner into a hedge, causing her a bruise. On Tuesday, the dispute between two neighbors came to a head at the Feldkirch Regional Court. 

If the 32-year-old defendant is to be believed, friendly coexistence with the pensioner in the apartment block in Dornbirn is not even possible. In the past, there have been repeated arguments between her, the defendant and his girlfriend. This was also the case in mid-April. When the woman once again told off the accused for leaving the front door open and swore at him, the situation escalated. The man is said to have grabbed the 62-year-old woman by the arms and pushed her into a hedge, leaving the victim with a bruise.

Violence with words
The 32-year-old therefore has to answer to the court on Tuesday for coercion and assault. He only pleaded partially guilty to the charges and said: "I only defended myself because she had already coerced me several times." When asked by the judge what he meant by that, the defendant vented: "You can use violence not only with blows, but also with words. I was often beaten with words by my neighbor." On the evening in question, she also insulted him as a drug-addicted idiot. Of course, he shouldn't have grabbed the neighbor by the collar. But he had neither pushed the woman against the wall nor against a hedge, thereby injuring her.

However, the victim claims the opposite in his interrogation and describes the situation with gestures and somewhat more dramatically: "If it hadn't been for the hedge, I would have fallen over the curb onto the parking lot." However, the pensioner can no longer say whether the bruise was caused by the hedge or whether she twisted her arm in the incident.

In the end, the judge sentenced the man to a partial fine of 1,600 euros for coercion, of which he had to pay 1,200 euros. He is allowed to pay this off in installments.