Not for the first time

13-year-old boy was driving a stolen car

(Bild: Patrick Huber)

He is known to the police and this is not the first time he has been on the road in a stolen vehicle. On Thursday night, the 13-year-old Slovakian "borrowed" another car in Pasching. However, the owner had apparently made it easy for him: the doors were unlocked and the key was in a compartment inside the car. 

At around 1.15 a.m. on Thursday, a police patrol in Herrenstraße in Linz became aware of a car that was only driving with its parking lights on. After the officers switched on the blue lights, the car stopped.

13-year-old already known to the police
Behind the wheel was a milquetoast: the 13-year-old, who is known to the police and is accommodated in a supervised residential group in Pasching on behalf of the Amstetten district authority. He admitted to stealing the car there shortly after midnight.

According to the boy from Slovakia, the vehicle was probably unlocked and the key was in a compartment under the steering wheel inside the car.

At around 2.30 a.m., the 13-year-old was handed over to his supervisor and taken back to the residential group in Pasching, and the car was returned to its registered owner. There will be no sanctions for the boy for his behavior: He is still of criminal age. 

Demand for a reduction in the age of criminal responsibility
"We are lucky that no one was harmed during the unauthorized joyride with the stolen car," says Michael Raml (FPÖ), City Councillor for Security in Linz, and once again calls for a reform of juvenile criminal law. "Many of the young offenders make a mockery of our society. They are well aware of their actions, but they also know that they only have to reckon with legal consequences from the age of 14."

Raml advocates a partial lowering of the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12: "If, in the course of an investigation, experts determine that a younger offender has the necessary maturity to understand their actions within the scope of their actual capacity for understanding, consequences should be made possible." In serious and repeated cases, a reduction in the offender's capacity is required. 

„Krone“-Kommentar

Gemeinsinn statt Blödsinn

The main argument put forward by those in favor of lowering the age of criminal responsibility is that anyone who violates criminal laws should also be held accountable. An argument that is difficult to dismiss out of hand.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

However, it is well known that spending time in prison does not make young offenders into better people. It would make more sense if underage criminals could be obliged to do community service.