2024-01-10 14:46:00
10.01.2024 15:46
(Akt. 10.01.2024 15:46)
Conditional prison sentences for two young men in Wiener Neustadt ©APA/ROBERT JAEGER
A trial following a ball bomb explosion with two deaths on New Year’s Eve 2022 in Ternitz (Neunkirchen district) ended on Wednesday in Wiener Neustadt with conditional prison sentences. A 20-year-old received nine months of probation and his 18-year-old brother received six months of probation. They were charged with gross negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm. On the first day of the trial, two co-accused were acquitted. According to the regional court, the judgments are not legally binding.
The defendants drove to the Czech Republic on December 29, 2022 with one of the people who later died. Two ball bombs that were illegally purchased there were placed in plastic tubes on a meadow in Ternitz at the turn of the year. One of the people who died later is said to have ignited it with a lighter.
One of the ball bombs detonated immediately. An 18-year-old who was in the immediate vicinity died on the spot. A man of the same age died in hospital from his injuries a few days after the incident. The two male defendants were taken to the intensive care unit with serious injuries.
The defendants pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial on November 13, 2023. The 18-year-old was present at the purchase in the Czech Republic; according to his older brother, he only saw the ball bomb on New Year’s Eve. The two female defendants had observed the ignition from further away. There were acquittals for the 17- and 18-year-olds because the single judge did not find any breach of due diligence. The verdicts against the two female defendants are not final because the public prosecutor has lodged an appeal.
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