The incident happened on March 19, 2022 under the influence of alcohol: A winegrower and his son, a police officer by profession, attacked a 19-year-old apprentice, who they suspected was there when five attackers killed the brother of Police officers banged their heads against a wall.
Although the apprentice had nothing to do with this act, the policeman (who had gone to the disco privately) grabbed his tie. When trying to free himself, the 19-year-old is said to have bent and broken his finger, the police officer claimed.
While the police officer had already received a diversion on the first day of the hearing in June 2023 and his father, the winegrower, had been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment on probation, the apprentice had to take his place in the dock again last week.
Report should clarify cause of injury
Judge Birgit Falb had had an accident surgery report obtained. She wanted to know if the injury to the officer’s ring finger could have been caused by the apprentice’s attempt to free himself.
As a witness in the courtroom, the police officer repeatedly demonstrated how he had held the 19-year-old’s sweater. “I kept him at a distance,” said the police officer. “He struggled and tried to break free of my grip.”
The 19-year-old grabbed his ring finger and turned him to the right.
“It was a snap and the finger was crooked”
“I felt it right away,” said the policeman. “It was a snap and the finger was straight away. It’s still crooked,” he showed the ring finger of his left hand, the top joint of which actually tilted a little to the side.
Two other disco-goers were interviewed, one of whom said he noticed “a bunch of people” rushing toward the entrance on the night in question, sweeping him away.
An acquaintance of the policeman reported “tumultuous” scenes in front of the disco and that he noticed the policeman move his hand “jerkily” when the apprentice suddenly pushed himself out of the grip “on the tie”.
The trauma surgeon forensic experts explained that a torn extensor tendon like the one suffered by the police officer can be caused by flexing the stretched finger. Such a sprain could not be produced with a clenched fist, nor by “pulling away” a finger, as described by the victim of the injury.
The police officer’s lawyer had demanded 7,200 euros in damages for her client.
In case of doubt, the judge acquitted the apprentice of the accusation of serious bodily harm and referred the police officer to civil law with his claims.
“We all tried to evaluate the evidence, but it could not be clarified how the witness came to the injury,” said the judge.
