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District Court Lübeck: The defendant speaks with his defense attorney
Photo: Markus Scholz / dpa
Because he shot and killed a burglar, a 58-year-old from Lübeck has to go to prison for seven years.
The jury chamber of the Lübeck district court saw it as proven that the house owner had killed a burglar - at the time 38 years old - with three shots in his villa at the end of December 2020.
In this case it is not far-fetched to speak of vigilante justice, said the presiding judge Christian Singelmann.
At the beginning of the trial, the defendant confessed to having shot at the escaping intruder and his companion.
However, the 58-year-old German explained to his defense attorney that he only wanted to put the alleged intruders to flight.
The public prosecutor and the accessory prosecution had requested a prison sentence of nine years and three months against the retired professional soldier and active sports shooter.
The defense had assessed the act as negligent homicide and demanded an unspecified suspended sentence.
col / dpa