Car Driver Received 30 Months in Prison in Upper Austria

A 20-year-old driver, who engaged in a wild police chase on the night of January 31st that ended with several injuries, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Friday at the Regional Court in Wels, although the verdict is not yet legally binding. The jury did not see any of the numerous dangerous incidents as attempted murder, as the prosecution had charged. The jury had to answer more than 90 questions.

34 of these questions concerned whether the defendant had attempted to kill someone. In all these cases, however, there was a clear acquittal.

However, the man was found guilty of serious - partly attempted, partly completed - bodily harm in seven cases, endangering physical safety in three cases, intentional public endangerment of more than ten people, as well as a violation of the Weapons Act - he had brass knuckles with him - and suppression of documents. In addition, he must pay a total of nearly 40,000 euros to several private parties involved.

Prosecutor: "Rampage"

The Hungarian living in Upper Austria had previously engaged in police chases and received numerous fines for traffic offenses, said the prosecutor. His driver's license had already been revoked, and his car was not registered. Nevertheless, on the evening of the crime - after he had mounted his mother's car license plates on his vehicle - he set off for a discussion with his ex-girlfriend in Wels. The woman got into the vehicle with him.

When the police tried to stop him for crossing a solid line, he fled. This was followed by - according to the prosecutor - a "rampage" through the night-time, foggy central area. The defendant ran red lights, crossed solid lines and areas, overtook on the hard shoulder, all at extremely high speeds, sometimes over 200 km/h, and once collided with a truck trailer. After 30 kilometers, he crashed into a police roadblock at the Traun intersection, resulting in several injuries, including his girlfriend and police officers.

"Intent to kill" denied

In total, the indictment lists five extremely dangerous situations. The prosecution accuses the man of attempted murder in several cases. The 20-year-old denied any "intent to kill." However, to be convicted of attempted murder, it is sufficient that he accepted the possibility of people being killed. In October of the previous year, a speeder in Vienna was sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder in a similar case.

The prosecution made no statement. The defense requested time to consider. The verdict is therefore not legally binding.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.