Enlarge image
The 24-year-old perpetrator in court
Photo:
Christian Charisius / dpa
In the trial surrounding the death of a 20-year-old woman in a Hamburg bicycle cellar, the district court sentenced the accused to nine years in prison.
The 24-year-old was guilty of attempted murder by omission and giving away narcotics resulting in death, ruled Birgit Woitas, the chairman of the criminal division.
The young woman died on January 9 or 10, 2021 from asphyxiation in the bicycle cellar of an apartment building in the Neuallermöhe district, where she lived with her parents.
The accused gave her a methadone tablet and an antispasmodic drug, the judge said.
After that, they both had sex.
When the 20-year-old became unconscious, the accused dragged her into the bicycle cellar.
Prosecutors demanded life imprisonment
The public prosecutor's office had assumed a murder in tandem with rape and sexual assault.
Like the co-plaintiff, she had demanded life imprisonment.
The defense had pleaded for acquittal.
The judge explained in her verdict that it could not be said with sufficient certainty that the man raped the woman and actively covered her airway.
But he knew how dangerous methadone was and didn't get help in time.
However, it remained unclear when he realized that she would die without help.
At the same time, it is unclear whether the woman could have been saved at that time.
Therefore, the act should be assessed as attempted murder by omission.
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
hba/dpa
