Life sentence - At the illegal race: 'My children won't come back'
A desperate mother's verdict cannot console her - no matter how it turns out. "Other Children go to school, mine are in the grave," said the weeping woman. Her husband tried to keep his composure. He said: "I know my children won't come back." Their two little boys, aged two and six, died in February 2022 when the family car in Barsinghausen near Hannover got involved in a forbidden car race. For this, a 42-year-old woman must now spend the rest of her life in prison, her 41-year-old rival in the race for four years.
After the verdict, Judge Britta Schlingmann apologized to the grief-stricken family: It seemed that in the trial, it was all about the defendants and their feelings, rather than the victims. She wanted to say, however, how painful it was for her to see what the family had to endure in the proceedings - the death of the children could not be undone by the process. The father of the children remarked: "Whoever drives a car must think about other people."
Then the judge was clear: The court was convinced that both defendants had taken the deaths of others and the collision with oncoming traffic into account, she said in her judgment. The judgment was handed down for murder in two cases, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, and an illegal car race resulting in death. The driver's license of the Polish defendant was to be revoked for five years, that of the German-Italian for three years. The court followed the demands of the Prosecution.
Exactly what had happened? Behind the town exit of Barsinghausen, the two defendants engaged in an illegal car race. The woman, driving a PS-strong car, raced on the wrong lane to overtake her rival, initially on a straight stretch. While entering a curve - with speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour - she lost control over her car. There was a collision with oncoming traffic. The car of the four-member family was thrown onto a hitching post. The little boys on the back seat, despite being properly restrained, died. Their parents and the driver of another car were seriously injured. The speed limit on the road is 70 kilometers per hour.
In the trial, it became clear that the woman often drove too fast - former colleagues testified about her "reckless" driving style. She had always driven high-powered cars, had also been flashed, said the prosecutor in her closing argument.
Judge Schlingmann explained: "The decisive moment is when both entered the curve. That is the moment when both defendants gave up control of the situation." They could not have seen what was behind the curve, she said, it was a traffic situation that "hardly surpasses in danger." Such a situation is not controllable and inevitably leads to the death or injury of traffic participants. These consequences had both knowingly accepted, because they did not want to give in during the race.
Although both defendants were heavily affected, the father had not forgiven them - and the court could not take that into account either. The 42-year-old looked down in the trial and cried frequently.
It was not the first trial in the case: The Federal Court of Justice had to rehear the proceedings because it had largely overturned the April 2023 judgment due to legal errors. At the time, the main defendant was sentenced to six years in prison, and the German-Italian co-defendant to four years. The judgment was overturned due to an illegal car race resulting in death. The man's sentence was now limited for formal reasons - the prosecution did not file a revision, the judge explained.
However, it is possible that the new judgment is not the end: Defense attorney Yana Tchelpanova, one of the defendants' lawyers, announced a revision in the courtroom, stating, "We consider it a miscarriage of justice." As soon as she was in her office, she would file a revision. The family's attorney warned: If the parents of the deceased children had to deal with the case again, it would be hard to bear.
- The desperate mother's verdict was delivered in the Higher Regional Court Hannover, in relation to the fatal car accident in Barsinghausen, Lower Saxony.
- The 42-year-old woman, who participated in the forbidden car race, was found guilty of murder and will spend the rest of her life in prison.
- The court also convicted the 41-year-old woman for four years for her role in the illegal car race that resulted in bodily harm and death.
- The judge in the case, Britta Schlingmann, expressed her sympathy for the grief-stricken family, acknowledging the pain they had endured during the court process.
- The father of the two deceased boys urged drivers to consider the safety of others on the road, emphasizing the importance of adhering to traffic rules.
- The Prosecutor's Office in Hannover sought strict penalties, demanding the revocation of both defendants' driving licenses for several years.
- The court handling the case in Barsinghausen followed the Prosecutor's Office's demands, revoking the Polish defendant's license for five years and the German-Italian defendant's for three years.
- The defense attorney for one of the defendants, Yana Tchelpanova, announced a revision in the courtroom, arguing a miscarriage of justice had occurred, potentially leading to another trial for the family to endure.
