Unable to pay the bill, a 16-year-old and her boyfriend (17) fled from a sushi restaurant in Linz in August last year. The boss of the two chased them. But the young woman accelerated in her stolen car and ran over the 42-year-old. They will be tried for attempted murder in Graz on Tuesday.
Lihua C. is taken to the court in Graz by a paramedic in a wheelchair. After she was run over by a car in front of her bar in Linz in August last year by two teenagers aged just 16 and 17, while she only wanted to demand their outstanding bill from them. The marked person is now awaiting questioning in the jury room.
Earlier, public prosecutor Katharina Tauschmann gave her prosecution presentation. And it has it all, because they are both anything but a blank slate! Stealing cars and using them without permission was almost an everyday occurrence for them, just like shoplifting. The 16-year-old has already been convicted of, among other things, attempted serious bodily harm.
“It’s a miracle she’s still alive.”
But what possessed her on August 9 last year? “They wanted to run away together and enjoy life,” the prosecutor said. ‘Let’s go to Linz,’ they both thought. Once there, they parked the car on a one-way street and then enjoyed themselves. It was clear to them that they did not have enough money with them. So they just left. But a waiter and the sushi chef noticed this and followed both to the car. As the waiter tried to open the passenger door, the 42-year-old stood in the street and pulled out her cell phone. “She wanted to take a photo of the car for documentation,” says the prosecutor. But then the girl accelerated. It didn’t matter to them whether the woman would survive, as long as she was gone. The victim is completely run over by two tires. “It’s a miracle she survived.”
Excluded from the public during interrogation
Bernhard Lehofer, lawyer for the young defendant, responds: “My client is being portrayed here as a serious criminal. That is absolutely not right!” She had a difficult childhood and youth and came to Austria at the age of seven after her parents divorced. She herself was the victim of serious acts of violence and was actually an intelligent but severely scarred girl who suffered from panic attacks. It was precisely for these reasons that she acted on that terrible day. Moreover, the sushi rental lady was not standing on the street, but jumped into the car that was already moving.
Her accused boyfriend’s lawyer pleads ‘not guilty’. He, as well as the previous speaker, request that the public be excluded from the proceedings because there is too much concern about ridicule and malice and the future progress of the two. The appeal judges partially agree with this request. The public is barred from questioning the defendants.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
