In front of his son

Defendant beat up his ex in a wheelchair

The man repeatedly used violence against his girlfriend. Even though the woman was in a wheelchair. Now he had to explain himself to the court.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall)

A 30-year-old man from Vorarlberg had to answer for continued violence against his former partner at Feldkirch Regional Court. Particularly bad: the accused's 15-year-old son had to witness some of the acts.

The construction worker and the woman, who was at times confined to a wheelchair, were a couple for almost five years. The two met in 2020. Although the relationship was not very harmonious from the start, the physically impaired woman moved in with him shortly afterwards. A fatal decision. According to the indictment, the 30-year-old allegedly pushed his partner against furniture or walls at least once a week and punched and kicked the victim.

The reasons for this are banal. They made up again and the victim remained silent. Then, in mid-August last year, the partner's latest violent outburst occurred when he headbutted the wheelchair-bound woman twice and then knocked the wheelchair over. The man's 15-year-old son also witnessed the incident. The victim calls the police.

During the trial, the defendant admits to abusing his "ex! However, he tries to play it down: "Of course it wasn't okay, especially as I knew that she had care level 5 and was dependent on a wheelchair. But we didn't give each other anything. I just put up a fight." He also had an alcohol problem at the time. This prompted Judge Theo Rümmele to ask whether the accused felt he needed anti-violence training or anti-alcohol therapy. He answered in the negative: "I've got myself under control again."

Conditional prison sentence
The trial ends with a non-appealable guilty verdict for the crime of continued violence against a defenceless person and a conditional prison sentence of nine months. In addition, there is a fine of 3,600 euros and 300 euros in lump-sum costs. As the victim did not assert any claims, the offender was spared the payment of compensation for pain and suffering. The judge said to the newly convicted man: "You did well to make a full confession. Otherwise you would have run the risk of being sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence."