Dispute in Lower Austria escalates

Robbery trial! Senior physician to victim: “You fat noodle”

A doctor ended up in the dock in Lower Austria after a dispute between neighbors.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

When the argument with his 64-year-old neighbor escalated, the renowned doctor from Lower Austria blew all his fuses. During the trial at Korneuburg District Court, the blameless family man confessed with his head bowed: "I'm very ashamed of it!"

Because she had to testify about him to the police as a witness in a case in which he was the victim, a neighborly dispute broke out between a 64-year-old woman and the 52-year-old senior physician from Lower Austria. It escalated on October 7, 2023.

According to the indictment, the doctor was a robber. In her garage, he grabbed the senior citizen by the neck and strangled her. When she tried to call for help on her cell phone, the father of the family allegedly snatched the device from her and hit her in the head. "You fat noodle. I know exactly where you're going for a walk in the evening, I'll hit you over the head," he scolded.

Snatched cell phone disposed of in the dustbin
"The story developed a momentum of its own, but there was an incident where he was the victim," said his new defense lawyer Philipp Winkler on the second day of the trial in Korneuburg. At the start of the trial, the accused had vehemently denied the events. While the victim stubbornly stuck to her statements.

Philipp Winkler defended the doctor in the Korneuburg Regional Court.

(Bild: Gerhard Bartel)

The stalemate, where statement stood against statement, was resolved by the doctor on Monday and he confessed: "I was very annoyed with Ms. D.. She wanted to call the police. So I took the cell phone away from her and ran off. I threw the phone in the nearest dustbin on the street."

6000 euros diversion and 660 euros compensation for pain and suffering
Because the intent to enrich himself and therefore the robbery no longer applied due to the credible confession, the public prosecutor also agreed to a diversion. 6000 euros plus 660 euros in compensation for pain and suffering, in return for which the criminal proceedings were dropped and no report was made to the medical association.

The doctor does not want to stay in the house after the incident: "We want to move away in the spring," he says and also comments in the courtroom on his violent choice of words towards the victim on the day of the attack: "I'm very ashamed of it!"