35-year-old sentenced to prison for hostage-taking
After taking a teenager hostage, a 35-year-old man has been sentenced to four years and six months in prison. "He was ordered to be placed in preventive detention and an arrest warrant was issued for the accused," a spokeswoman for the Hechingen district court announced on Monday. The public prosecutor's office had accused the man of luring a then 17-year-old into a cellar in Balingen (Zollernalb district) in April, strangling him and threatening him with a weapon.
A medical expert had testified that she had been able to reconstruct what had happened in the cellar of a residential building on the basis of strangulation marks on the victim's neck. The victim and the accused confirmed in court that they had known each other before the incident. According to the public prosecutor's office, the 18-year-old was released after 45 minutes. The young man had managed to convince his captor to release him.
A few days after the incident, the police arrested the 35-year-old. He was initially remanded in custody, but was transferred to a psychiatric facility a few weeks ago. Some of the background to the case had remained unclear, for example because witnesses had exercised their right to refuse to testify.
The defendant was convicted of hostage-taking combined with assault. The verdict is not yet final.
The court's sentencing of the man also includes placement in preventive detention due to the serious nature of the hostage-taking and crime committed. Subsequent processes will involve reviewing the defendant's mental health records, as aspects of the case remained unclear due to witnesses exercising their right to refuse testimony.
Source: www.dpa.com
