Youth Gang on Trial in Vienna After Robbery on 73-Year-Old

An 18-year-old was sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated robbery, according to a new provision of the Violence Protection Package, which provides the same minimum sentence for young adults as for adults. However, due to the Juvenile Court Act, he received four years on probation. A 17-year-old received 30 months, ten of which are unconditional, and a 16-year-old 27 months, nine of which are unconditional. In addition, they were jointly ordered to pay damages of 3,730 euros. The verdicts are legally binding.

73-Year-Old Beaten and Robbed by Youth Gang

The trio had observed the later victim around 10:30 pm at the main station when the man was withdrawing money in a bank foyer. They followed him for about ten minutes, then surrounded him and threatened him with a knife. The 73-year-old called for help. In this case, the defendants had agreed that "someone should give him a punch," the 17-year-old described in the trial. Therefore, he attacked the elderly man and gave him "two punches" as agreed.

The victim then fell to the ground, where he was repeatedly kicked in the head. A tourist observed the scene and made himself known, whereupon the gang left the pensioner and fled. The 73-year-old was taken to a hospital by the Vienna Professional Rescue, where multiple facial fractures - including a fracture of the upper jaw - abrasions, bruises, and hematomas were diagnosed. In addition, the violent offenders had knocked out a tooth. The man, who was heard as a witness, stated that he was suddenly attacked and knocked to the ground. Then his memory failed. He could only remember "being pushed into a tube in the hospital."

Youth Gang in Court: "Thought He Would Just Have a Bump and a Broken Bone"

"I thought he would just have a bump and a broken bone. I didn't think he would have so many fractures," said the 17-year-old defendant. He was sorry: "I confess with all my heart." With the 73-year-old's ATM card, the trio had bought something to smoke from a cigarette machine a few minutes after the robbery. "To calm down," as one of them stated in court.

The three boys had been convicted of aggravated robbery at the regional court just ten days ago in a separate trial because they had robbed five people in Vienna-Simmering the night after the attack on the pensioner, masked and armed with blank guns and knives, and had each fled from the crime scenes on e-scooters. The 18-year-old received two years unconditional for this series of robberies, the two teenagers 18 and 17 months partially conditional. However, these verdicts are not legally binding - the public prosecutor's office has appealed against them.

(APA/Red)

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