A plumber (25) was not legally convicted in Eisenstadt for deliberately flooding 16 cellars. “He wanted to be important there,” the judge said. Approximately 105,000 euros in compensation is available.
The 25-year-old pleaded not guilty until the last word, which is always reserved for the defendant. “I didn’t do that. And I would never do something like that!”, the northern Burgenlander said before the verdict was handed down at the Eisenstadt regional court. To then immediately file an appeal and nullity.
A 12-month suspended prison sentence of three years is probably less serious than the total of 104,958.74 euros that he would have to pay in compensation within 14 days.
Always one of the first on site
From April 15 to 21, 2023, a ‘water devil’ targeted residential buildings of the Oberwartersiedlungsgenossenschaft (OSG) in Eisenstadt. This week, 16 basements were deliberately flooded: the perpetrator opened taps, sawed off fittings and removed valves. As an installer for OSG at the time, the suspect was constantly on site and had access to all buildings, although he said he was missing some keys on the collar. He was always one of the first on the scene.
And: When the suspect was interrogated, he stated that an accident had happened to him on April 21 and that “after repairing the leak I discovered, even more water leaked out.”
Continuous chain of evidence
However, Judge Doris Halper-Praunias saw the 25-year-old as “convicted by a continuing series of evidence”. What is particularly striking is that no more flooding occurred after his confession about the last incident. The suspect was under psychological pressure, which was released in this way. “He turned on the water so he could be important there.”
Source: Krone
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