Out of frustration, a 65-year-old driver of a walker attacked two illegal e-scooters on the sidewalk in Linz. During the trial, he complained about the passivity of the police and the city administration against the sidewalk hooligans and said that he had acted in self-defense. He has been in custody for this since June 28.
“For me it was self-defense, I don’t feel guilty” – the 65-year-old defendant at the Linz Regional Court shook violently after he rode out of his cell on a walker. It was a mixture of fear, anger and the physical symptoms of a fall nine years ago.
“I called the city of Linz and the police dozens of times because cyclists and e-scooter riders were using the sidewalk in front of the house. But no one did anything. “I did something myself,” says the pensioner, describing how on June 28 he stood on the sidewalk with a knife – “I brought it with me especially” – on his walker looking at the “enemies”. Because he had not encountered any of his hated contemporaries on two wheels during his daily walk.
Two scooter riders took evasive action and a witness saw the Linz man ‘waving’ and ‘stabbing’ the knife. “I wanted to scratch her, not kill her,” the pensioner said – and because he said he would do it again, he was jailed.
“I didn’t wave”
During the trial, he nodded vigorously when it came to the crime, then “waving around” the knife – which he had made himself during his time at the Linz shipyard – and shaking his head vigorously: “I was sitting by the walker, I just held the knife up. If I had waved around, I could have fallen and I would have been in great danger myself.”
He honestly told the judge that he still had a knife by the bathroom window and had threatened several times when “they turned the sidewalk back into a bike path.”
“A nice old gentleman”
The defense attorney called him a “nice old gentleman” who “has health and mental health issues” and some form of dementia. “He needs help, not punishment,” the attorney said. Because his client used a knife in the commission of the crime – attempted grievous bodily harm – he faces a prison sentence of two to 10 years. The hearing was adjourned to hear the witness who saw the “waving,” and the senior citizen rode back to his cell with the walker.
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.
