Torn from sleep

Shifter stabs noisy neighbor in the neck

The worker had to answer to the lay assessor's court

(Bild: CH, Krone KREATIV)

Like many of his neighbors, a 30-year-old man from Linz was torn from his sleep at the end of September last year because a group of revelers were causing a ruckus on the street at Bindermichl. The second and final day of the trial dealt with the question of whether the father of four had deliberately stabbed himself.

Almost everyone is familiar with them, especially in the city: Loud, inconsiderate neighbors who tear tired people out of their beds late at night. A 30-year-old from Linz had had enough in September last year: "I wanted to confront the group and chase them away. Unfortunately, I completely misjudged the situation," said the accused in the Linz jury courtroom on Tuesday. "I only had the knife with me because there were so many of them."

First asked from the window
Like many other residents, the shift worker and father of four had woken up in the early hours of the morning because a group was partying and talking loudly outside his window on Bindermichl. First he asked for quiet from the window, then he went downstairs.

"Looked like he was hugging him"
"He approached the group, two of them went towards him. Then there was a brief scuffle, it looked like he was going to hug the victim," said one witness, describing the momentous seconds. "Then he immediately ran back into the house while the others gathered around the victim, who had a bloodstain on his back."

From behind in the neck
The 30-year-old had rammed a knife against the back of the 27-year-old Albanian's head and ten centimetres deep into his neck from behind. "Not much happened, but he could also have hit the oesophagus, windpipe and lungs," said the public prosecutor, who demanded a harsh sentence.

24 months in prison
After around an hour, the judge and lay assessors agreed: it was grievous bodily harm, but not intentional. The 30-year-old was given 24 months, eight of them unconditional. Because he had already been in custody since the crime, only around three months remain. The public prosecutor asked for three days to think it over.