Processes - Verdict: Jens Lehmann to pay 420,000 euros
The former national soccer goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been sentenced to a fine. The Starnberg district court imposed 210 daily rates of 2,000 euros each for damage to property, insult and attempted fraud - a total of 420,000 euros.
Lehmann had "consistently staged himself as a victim of the justice system", said judge Tanja Walter. However, he was "not a victim, he is a perpetrator" and had presented "outrageous stories" in his defense in court.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded a suspended prison sentence of ten months and a fine of 216,000 euros in the trial, which centered on a bizarre neighborhood dispute and an incident involving a chainsaw. "With a chainsaw in their hands, heroes become legends," said public prosecutor Stefan Kreutzer - or they end up in court.
Charge of damage to property, insult, attempted fraud
Lehmann was charged with damage to property, insult and attempted fraud. The public prosecutor accused the 54-year-old of entering his neighbor's newly built garage with a chainsaw and sawing a roof beam. The original charge of trespassing was dropped after the neighbor withdrew a corresponding criminal complaint.
There is "no doubt" that the accusations against the 2006 World Cup hero are true, emphasized public prosecutor Kreutzer. Lehmann had "simply wanted to get one over on his neighbor". He saw a high level of criminal energy in Lehmann and accused him of "vigilante justice".
Kreutzer also had no doubt that Lehmann did not want to pay the parking fees in a parking garage at the airport and therefore pretended to have something to do in the parking garage - and then drove bumper to bumper behind another car under the barrier. "That's highly conspicuous behavior," said Kreutzer. "And that for a few hundred euros - given your financial circumstances."
Gaps in memory
On the first day of the trial, Lehmann admitted that he had entered the garage with a chainsaw in his hand, but otherwise referred to gaps in his memory and spoke of false suspicions and character assassination. "The only person who has behaved in a way that damages his own reputation is the defendant himself," said Judge Walter.
Lehmann's lawyer Christoph Rücker said in his summation: "The public prosecutor's office is shooting sparrows with cannons." He accused the public prosecutor of revenge and inadmissible "moralizing". Lehmann was suffering from a celebrity malus, the charges were "peanuts". "This courtroom is not a moral authority that has to educate a former national player." He demanded acquittal of the charges of damage to property and attempted fraud and a fine of 50 daily rates of less than 500 euros each for insulting police officers.
Read also:
- Snow chaos further restricts Bavaria
- "Zoltan" sweeps across the country - disruptions to rail traffic
- Unanimous decision: faster wolf culls possible
- The year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
Source: www.stern.de
