Feeling he wasn’t getting paid enough for a job, a 33-year-old man set fire to a woman’s garage in southern Styria. On Wednesday he had to appear before the Graz regional criminal court.
He was reluctant to plead guilty but insisted: “I didn’t want to do anything bad to her.” He was sentenced to two years in prison, eight months of which were suspended, for serious damage to property and serious coercion.
Exterior wall set on fire
The defendant had done some work on a friend’s house in southern Styria, but was unhappy with the payment. He wanted another 5,880 euros, but the woman refused to pay. On December 19, 2023, he drove to a gas station, filled an empty water bottle with gasoline and then went to the garage of the house where he had been working.
According to his own statements, he simply poured a little gasoline on the outside wall and set it on fire. “Then immediately there was a flash of flame, I was shocked, the bottle fell down and I ran,” he said.
“Did you want to damage the building?” asked judge Michaela Lapanje. “No,” he replied. “But that is not a confession,” said the chairman. The suspect’s justification was that he “just wanted to make a black burn mark” on the garage. “I have listened to so much nonsense all week, but you are the best commentator,” was the judge’s response to this information.
“None of us will torture you”
He made a slightly different statement to the police: “I grew up during the war, I was afraid of the police,” the Kosovan tried to explain. “None of us will torture you,” the judge noted. The suspect had also called his acquaintance and said: “Pay, then there will be peace and quiet. Otherwise it’s your house.” The woman told the court that he had worked very sloppily and refused to make improvements. Since the fire, she is still mentally stressed and does not feel comfortable being alone in the house.
“He practiced vigilante justice”
Moreover, the 33-year-old was also in court four days before the crime for serious coercion. “It was a family matter,” he defended, and it was also handled in a distracting manner. “He practiced willfulness, which is not acceptable under any circumstances,” prosecutor Viktoria Schreyer emphasizes. The suspect was sentenced to two years in prison, eight months of which were unconditional. Since both the suspect and the prosecutor agreed, the verdict is final.
Source: Krone
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