They had to answer on Tuesday in Leoben for forming a criminal plot, and the public prosecutor subsequently identified a dangerous threat. Ultimately, the judge left both of them with 100 hours of community service, which they gladly accepted.
In addition to the idea of playing Russian roulette with the teachers, one of the defendants also posted photos of a gas pistol, a hoe and knives. In addition to the accused, there was also a girl in the chat group who eventually spread the word regarding the whole thing, so that a report was made.
“It makes you feel uneasy”
“Why did you do that?” Judge Peter Wilhelm asked the first defendant. “I don’t know,” it came out, barely audible. “What was your thought?” asked the judge. “I wanted to be cool,” the student admitted. The image of a masked person in this chat “should be a joke,” said the 14-year-old. “When you look at it like that and read through everything, you start to feel uneasy,” said the chairman.
The second student, who only came to the Upper Styrian middle school from Hungary in December 2023, also posted a photo of his father’s weapon. “As a reminder,” as he stated, because it has since been sold. The judge found that strange: “Others have photos of vacations or school trips, but not pictures of weapons,” he said. Why were the two teachers mentioned chosen? “They weren’t very nice to me at the beginning,” the interviewee explained.
“rascal banter”
“You never had the plan to kill the teachers,” emphasized the defense attorney. His colleague spoke of a “rascal banter” on Snapchat, which, however, was “completely morally reprehensible”.
Despite everything, the judge found that “there is no need for a conviction”, although an acquittal would be legally wrong. So he imposed 100 hours of community service each, which both defendants accepted.
