A 24-year-old man ended up in hospital with broken ribs, facial bones and torn ligaments in his knee after the attack by the pair. Both defendants received thirty-month terms for intentional bodily harm and disorderly conduct. According to the already final judgment, he must also pay the victim 1.7 million crowns in compensation.
Public prosecutor Robert Merkun drew attention to the fact that the defendants were in the position of persons who are supposed to ensure order in the company. “Although there was nothing that would justify even a reasonable intervention, they used gross violence against the victim as a guest of the club,” said Merkun.
According to the president of the senate, Simona Kuboušková, the court had no doubts about the defendants’ guilt. “They attacked the victim together and at the same time. They committed crimes as accomplices,” said the judge.
According to the file, Krauz punched the guest in the head and Mencl kicked him in the chest. The court concluded that it was Mencl who caused the injury consisting of the fracture of the sixth to eighth ribs of the demonstrably injured party.
The attack took place in the stairwell near the toilets. “One of them laid him on the ground and punched him in the face. The other stomped on his chest. I grabbed him from behind by his belt and tried to drag him away. I kept calling for them to leave him alone. When the attack stopped, I helped the man get up and go out to the front of the club. His head was hugely swollen and his face was bleeding,” a witness to the attack testified before the court.
As she further stated, she did not understand at all why the defendants attacked the guest. “He sat at the table with us the whole time. He behaved completely normally. I’ve known him for ten years, he’s not a conflicted person. Actually, none of the bouncers told me what happened, why they beat him so badly,” she added.
The defendants refused to testify in court. In response to the testimony of the witness, Mencl only stated that he did not step on anyone. “I’m seeing the witness for the first time today. I don’t understand that if Krauz had him lying down, why would I still kick him,” said Mencl.
The reason for the intervention against the victim was his alleged aggressiveness. In the preliminary proceedings, the defendants claimed that he was rude to the bartender and smoked in prohibited areas. Krauz then admitted that he punched the guest twice.
The guest was not aggressive
However, according to the court’s conclusion, from the evidence provided, there was no indication that the victim had behaved inappropriately or even aggressively during the entire evening. Even the barmaid confirmed that although the man rammed into her, she herself thinks that it was not intentional.
Both defendants faced up to eight years in prison. The court took into account both their previous integrity, when none of them had been dealt with even for a misdemeanor in the past, and also the fact that a longer period of time had passed since the crime was committed, during which both of them lead an orderly life.
After the accusation, the city police chief suspended Mencla from his position as a constable and reassigned him to work at a dog shelter. After the final verdict on Wednesday, he will be completely dismissed from the city police, as he will not meet the condition of integrity.
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