2023-12-07 13:44:08
A 69-year-old woman died in a room fire in Vienna-Favoriten in the early hours of April 2, 2023. On Thursday, the widower had to answer at the state criminal court for negligently causing a fire. The prosecution accused the 73-year-old of not properly extinguishing a cigarette in his study before going to bed. During the trial, however, doubts arose about the cause of the fire.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” said defense attorney Otto Stadler right at the start of the trial. The defendant – previously blameless – therefore pleaded “not guilty”. The cigarette was not considered to have caused the fire; he had attached the butt to a special device on the ashtray – a so-called sponge – which ensured that the remains of the cigarette could not ignite.
However, before going to bed, he put the original replacement battery of his drill on the charging station to fully charge it, the widower said. “This battery exploded,” said defender Stadler with conviction. The drill and the battery were not cheap products from the Far East, but rather European brand goods.
However, the lawyer presented the court with documents stating that nickel-cadmium batteries were actually no longer allowed to be sold since January 1, 2017 due to an EU directive. Stadler provided an invoice that his client purchased the drilling machine in January 2023. There have already been problems with the batteries in this model – the defense attorney referred to a case in which, according to a report, a carport burned down after the battery ignited. “That’s probably the reason that the company hasn’t provided any information about our case so far,” Stadler suspected.
The judge then wanted to know from the defendant why he did not mention the drill and the battery immediately after the accident. “I was way too excited,” said the retired plumber, “I was sitting down there on the street in my body, wearing pants and slippers. I didn’t know what I should do it.” In the ambulance – the 73-year-old was taken to the hospital as a precaution because of possible smoke poisoning – he found out about his wife’s death. “How are you feeling about the loss of your wife?” asked the judge. “Miserable,” replied the 73-year-old, “I don’t think you’ll get over it that quickly.” Then he started crying.
The fire that broke out on the first floor of a residential building led to a large-scale operation by the Vienna professional fire department, which deployed 72 men and women to fight the fire. When the fire brigade arrived, the affected apartment and the balcony were already fully ablaze. 22 residents of the house – including the defendant – were evacuated, and any help came too late for the 69-year-old woman in whose name the apartment was rented. The woman’s three cats also died.
The fire department was able to prevent the flames from spreading to other apartments or neighboring buildings. Nevertheless, the fire caused enormous material damage. In the trial against the 73-year-old, the insurance company valued it at just under 1.6 million euros.
The trial was adjourned indefinitely to allow further witnesses to be called and additional evidence to be taken. The fire expert, who, from the defense’s point of view, prematurely used a burning cigarette as the only plausible explanation for the accident, will also be invited to the next appointment.
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