A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old were convicted of attempted murder in the Graz Regional Criminal Court on Tuesday evening. In August 2023, they are said to have cheated the bill in a bar in Linz and then ran over the landlady with a car. The victim survived with serious injuries. The young person was sentenced to four years and her companion, who was an accomplice, was sentenced to 30 months. The judgment is not final.
“The incident is the sad climax of the two’s crimes so far,” said public prosecutor Katharina Tauschmann, describing the careers of the two defendants. The girl, who was not yet 17, and the 18-year-old had been noticed several times for minor offenses such as shoplifting, driving without authorization or breaking into cigarette machines, and had also received minor punishments. “A highly problematic development emerged. One has the feeling that the two of them no longer care regarding anything,” said the prosecutor.
In August last year, the two decided to “run away from home,” according to the prosecutor. They took the accused’s mother’s car and drove from Styria to Linz. There they went into a bar and wanted to leave without paying. The waiter and the manager ran following them. The teenagers jumped into the car and drove off. When the landlady tried to stand in their way, the 16-year-old simply drove on. She later said she had not seen the woman. “It is a miracle that the woman survived,” emphasized the prosecutor. The driver, who had been driving for a long time – without a license – said she thought she had hit the edge of a sidewalk. Only later did she find out from the media what actually happened.
Defender: “Somewhat lost in their development”
Defense attorney Bernhard Lehofer stated on his client’s behalf that she was “a little lost in her development.” As she jumped into the car, she dropped her cell phone. She looked for it, drove off at the same time and hit the woman, who fell and was partially rolled over. The lawyer emphasized that the girl never accepted the idea of killing the woman: “In reality, she didn’t think anything,” the defense attorney was convinced and identified “panic-like behavior.”
The 18-year-old’s lawyer said his client, who is accused of being an accessory following the fact, does not feel guilty. At the request of the defense, the public was excluded during the questioning of the two defendants.
Video footage from the courtroom:
Victim brought to court in a wheelchair
The victim was brought to court by ambulance in a wheelchair and had to wait hours to be questioned. The woman told the courtroom that she was still in pain and mightn’t work.
The landlady of the sushi restaurant said she did not immediately notice that the two young people had not paid. When she realized it, she ran following the two of them with a waiter. The colleague wanted to open the passenger door, but was unable to do so. She herself stood in front of the car: “I wanted to take a photo with my cell phone, then the car drove off and I fell,” she described the incident in court. “I wanted to move away to the side, but it was too fast, they had already set off,” she continued. “How are you today?” asked judge Katharina Schenk. “Not good, I have pain in my back and leg,” the woman replied. She has been operated on six times so far, and one or two operations are still planned.
The jury found both defendants guilty of attempted murder. The 16-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison, the 18-year-old was sentenced to 30 months as a contributory offender. The judgment is not final.
