A 47-year-old was charged with attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm before the Bonn district court - because he allegedly attacked his partner and, among other things, tried to stab her in the head with a bayonet.
But the man finally got away with a mild sentence: one and a half years in prison for assault and attempted coercion.
Because his partner had withdrawn her originally incriminating testimony - the defendant had made her a marriage proposal last week, immediately before her planned testimony as a joint plaintiff, which the woman had accepted.
The original allegations could no longer be proven to the man after the newly engaged woman had made use of her right to refuse to testify, it said in the judgment.
The chamber was no longer able to use the originally incriminating testimony that the mother of three made to the police shortly after the crime.
The judge said it was not a good sign for women who were beaten and beaten to protect the perpetrators.
"The defendant is someone who breaks a woman's nose when something doesn't suit him. And not just once."
At that time he was said to have been madly jealous because his partner, with whom he has a child, had met her ex-husband again.
A suspended sentence was out of the question for the court because the accused had a relevant criminal record.
In the end, the warrant was overturned because the 47-year-old had already served seven months of imprisonment.
As a free man, he was able to leave the courthouse with his fiancee and her children.
Icon: The mirror
pgo / dpa