It all started with an argument between teenagers over a baseball cap. A 41-year-old mother from Rosenheim got involved in the argument. She eventually ended up in court and was convicted of robbery. How it came about.
Rosenheim – In 2013, the accused fled to Germany with her family after her daughter was to be forced into marriage. Her biggest concern right now is her 15-year-old son, who she believes is surrounding himself with the wrong friends. He was bullied and beaten several times. Although in retrospect it sometimes turned out that he had exaggerated in his stories.
facts difficult to reconstruct
In any case, she was extremely outraged when her son called and complained that one of his “fake friends” had stolen a baseball cap from him. The mother didn’t know that her offspring had actually found this cap on the banks of the Chiemsee and wanted to keep what they found. But his friend simply took the branded product away from him.
It remained unclear to the court whether the filius had said “my kepi” or “a kepi” on the phone. This made it difficult for the presiding judge, Melanie Bartschat, to reconstruct the facts. Especially since it wasn’t actually about the cap, but the chain of the injured party.
Rather, the mother had demanded the cap back from the injured party back in Rosenheim. But he no longer had the find with him. The mother pursued the alleged thief through Innstrasse to the Mangfall Bridge. There she confronted him and without further ado ripped his chain from his neck. She didn’t want to give it back until he came out with the cap. The prosecution is convinced that the offense of robbery was fulfilled. Although the chain was by no means valuable costume jewellery. The pendant is said to have cost six euros.
The fact that the woman did not return this almost worthless chain, but only handed it over to the police after four weeks, she explained by saying that she had simply forgotten the whole process – which she is ashamed of today. After the injured party reported the incident to the police and the facts of the case were confirmed, charges were filed. Irrespective of the value of an item, it was said in the closing speech, taking it by force constituted robbery. Because of the low value of the “loot” and the previous history, however, it was a less serious case from his point of view, so that he only applied for a prison sentence of twelve months and this could also be suspended on probation.
Defense requests acquittal
Defense attorney Roland Kuhnigk insisted in his plea that his client had not acted with the intention of appropriating the chain. It was just an exchange. Assault is also negligible. He requested that the woman be acquitted of all charges.
The court saw it differently. It was a less serious case, which is why the sentence should be adjusted accordingly. However, it was a robbery. “They’ve settled down to the level of arguing youth, rather than reaching out for mediation and moderation as adults,” the judge says. Due to all the accompanying circumstances, the court had limited itself to the lowest possible sentence: seven months imprisonment, which was suspended on probation. A moderate fine should prevent them from acting rashly and aggressively in the future.
