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Accused in court: Thirteen and a half years in prison after death of infant (archive image)
Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich / dpa
In the case of a killed baby from the Lower Saxony municipality of Emstek, the Oldenburg district court has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 13 years and six months in prison for manslaughter.
With the sentence, the court on Friday went beyond the demand of the public prosecutor, who had pleaded for eleven years in prison, as a court spokesman said.
The defense, however, had asked for an acquittal.
The accused had denied the crime until the last day of the trial.
The three-month-old girl died a few days after being admitted to the hospital almost a year ago.
It died as a result of massive violence, as the judge stated in his verdict.
The baby's skull was broken in two places.
After the evidence was taken, only the mother of the child and her partner at the time were considered perpetrators.
According to the spokesman, the court classified the mother's statements as credible because she gave identical information at every stage of the procedure.
According to the court, the woman testified that the man abused and injured her, so she had to rest in bed.
That's the only reason she left the child to him.
According to the court spokesman, however, the now convicted man made different statements at various points.
In addition, there were no witnesses to the crime.
However, witnesses were able to testify that the man actually had the child in his care.
tgk/afp