Trial in Feldkirch

Defendant extended sick leave himself

The Syrian did not want to go to work and therefore virtually wrote himself off sick.(Bild: Chantal Dorn, Krone KREATIV)

A 20-year-old Syrian seemed to have no desire to work. He falsified sick notes so that he could stay off sick for longer. The court proceedings began on Thursday in Feldkirch (Vorarlberg). 

"I had psychological problems at the time," explained the Syrian, who now lives in Vienna, at the Feldkirch regional court on Thursday, explaining his motives at the time. The unemployed man is accused of twice extending his sick leave by simply changing the date on the sick note, photographing the note and sending it to his employer in Götzis. In the end, the affair was discovered and the Syrian was dismissed. The case then ended up in court.

There, the boy was given a pass and given 25 hours of community service. However, because the previously blameless man did not comply with the order, the case was brought back to court. As a result, the work-shy man received his first previous conviction on Thursday. Judge Martin Mitteregger sentenced him to a partial fine of 1,200 euros for serious fraud, half of which was suspended.

Liable for damages
The cheeky young man must pay his former employer damages of 600 euros within two weeks. With the verdict, Mitteregger followed the demand of the public prosecutor, who had described the defendant's behavior in his plea as "common practice" among those on sick leave. In addition, the decision was made to order probationary assistance. On Thursday, the court considered the convicted man's previous good conduct to be a reason for mitigation. Also the two facts that he had confessed and was under 21 years old.

The judge also praised the fact that the accused had not avoided the trial, but had traveled all the way from Vienna.