Wanted to clear the way

Tyrolean man in court for radical tree pruning

A 55-year-old Tyrolean man made "short work" of several trees and a shrub in November 2023. The man has now been sentenced for damaging other people's property.

An eight-metre-high pine tree, a five-metre-high shrub, a ten-metre-high walnut tree and a ten-metre-high ash tree had to die last autumn in a village in the district of Innsbruck-Land: the 55-year-old unceremoniously moved out with an excavator and loppers and radically cut them all down to a height of between one and two meters.

The accused wanted to "clear a path"
 The reason for this brutal cut: he wanted to "clear a path" for his partner. "He actually wanted to do something good," said his defense lawyer, especially as other people were also "happy" about the radical cut, precisely because up to that point, the trees in particular had partially obstructed or at least made it very difficult to enter and exit.

"Damage to third-party property"
 However, the situation was much more complex. "Some third-party property was damaged and some was even destroyed," said the judge at the hearing at Innsbruck Regional Court. The defendant had at least "accepted" this damage.

In other words, it was not possible to establish exactly which tree was standing on which ground. The defendant undoubtedly "worked on" trees on his girlfriend's land, legitimized by her. However, some of the other damaged trees and the shrub were probably on someone else's property.

Diversion proposal rejected
The judge ultimately considered an unconditional fine to be appropriate for the guilt and offense. Diversion - as suggested by the defense lawyer - was not possible, if only because the defendant had pleaded "not guilty" and had not shown any remorse. "When he committed the crime, he simply didn't care that he could damage or even destroy other people's property," said the chairwoman. The 55-year-old was sentenced to a fine of 1,200 euros. Not legally binding.