Sane – Arsonist faces 16 months in prison

The court found it proven that on January 20 of this year, the 44-year-old Turk had tried to set several fires with collected waste wood in a piece of forest belonging to the agricultural communities of Rankweil and Meiningen. He was interrupted in his plan by a pedestrian who immediately alerted the police. “The forest was far beyond any inhabited area. So the fire brigade could not have intervened quickly,” prosecutor Karin Krehn said at the hearing on Thursday, calling for the mentally ill fire devil to be admitted to a forensic therapy center.

repeat offender
Because it’s not the first time the man started a fire. In August last year he was before a lay judge for arson. At that time, forensic psychiatrist Reinhard Haller concluded that the 44-year-old suffered from various mental disorders and was unhealthy at the time of the crime. Otherwise in the case of the recent arson attack: “The man was sane at the time of the crime and was not in any disorder.”

downward spiral
But how does this diametrical classification come about? “The man had a drug problem that later led to a mental disorder. He was not taking any prescribed therapy at the time. The downward spiral then began with unemployment, divorce and homelessness. The final act was a call for help,” Haller explains the complex situation. The man had since been successfully treated at Rankweil State Hospital, which is why the court expert declined to admit him to a forensic therapeutic center.

Provided the man follows the orders of the court. Without treatment, the man remains a danger, according to the court expert. The final verdict, which was not final, was: 16 months in prison.