A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old appeared before a jury in the Graz Regional Criminal Court on Tuesday for attempted murder. The two are said to have cheated the bill in a bar in Linz in August 2023 and then ran over the landlady with the car. The woman survived with serious injuries and has had to undergo surgery six times. “I’m still in pain,” she said when questioned.
“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.
“Something lost in their development”
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.
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.”
Landlady underwent six operations
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.
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.
Further witness interviews were planned for the followingnoon, and a verdict was to be made in the evening.
