Trial in Graz

13 years for arson attack: “Like the death penalty!”

The Higher Regional Court of Graz

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

In revenge for his girlfriend leaving him for another man, a Romanian man (57) carried out an arson attack on her apartment. The couple escaped with a scare. The unskilled worker was sentenced to twelve years in prison. The Higher Regional Court in Graz ruled on Tuesday that the sentence was too light.  

At the appeal hearing at the Higher Regional Court in Graz on Wednesday, the Romanian's defense lawyer spoke of a "freak-out". "With his education and upbringing, it was not even possible for him to recognize the consequences of his actions." Until the crime, his client had led an orderly lifestyle. "At his age, the sentence is equivalent to life imprisonment. It is unclear whether he will even survive it given his illness caused by his alcohol addiction." 

Petrol set on fire in front of his "ex's" apartment
In August of the previous year, the then 56-year-old allegedly filled up a can of petrol at a petrol station in Villach (Carinthia) and drove drunk in a cab to the apartment of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. He spilled the petrol in the stairwell and set it on fire. The fact that the couple survived is apparently only thanks to the intervention of a neighbor.

"It was an extremely planned act, an attempt to kill two people, a revenge-induced execution of the crime and an insidious way of committing it," said the senior public prosecutor, justifying the request to increase the sentence. The defendant himself affirmed that he was very sorry. "I have never been in prison. The sentence is like the death penalty."

"Extremely insidious action"
After a brief deliberation, the Senate decided that the prison sentence should be increased from twelve to 13 years. "We do not see a planned, but an extremely insidious act at night," explained the presiding judge. "We are of the opinion that the judgment of the trial court is too close to the lower limit." The Romanian accepted the decision with tears in his eyes, the verdict is final.