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Ernst August in court (archive picture): "He would like to have some peace"
Photo:
Fotokerschi.At, Werner Kerschbaum / dpa
Ernst August Prince of Hanover failed in Austria with an appeal against a judgment of the regional court in Wels.
The Linz Higher Regional Court confirmed the ten-month suspended sentence imposed on the 67-year-old.
The district court had taken it as proven that Ernst August attacked police officers while he was in a state of intoxication and severely threatened an administrator couple working on his property.
Ernst August himself did not appear at the trial date.
He wanted to avoid "another media spectacle," he informed the court.
His lawyer also stated that his client, as a former cancer patient, belongs to a high-risk group and wants to avoid crowds of people indoors due to corona.
His health has improved a lot.
"He wants to have his peace and quiet and devote himself to his recovery."
Ernst August apologized
For the Guelph Prince, the great-grandson of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II, the verdict could have been even harsher: he originally faced up to three years imprisonment.
However, his intoxication was interpreted to mitigate his punishment.
Ernst August had apologized at the start of the criminal case: "I take responsibility, I regret what happened and I am ready to pay for the damage," he said.
The 67-year-old belongs to the royal family of the Guelphs.
In 2019, the family hit the headlines because Ernst August junior wanted to sell the Marienburg Welfenschloss to a foundation in Lower Saxony for one euro - against his father's will.
Ernst August junior had drawn attention to the high debts that the operating company of the castle had accumulated under the direction of the Guelphs.
ptz / dpa
