Judgment in Düsseldorf: Man stole hundreds of wedding dresses and cosmetics

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Bridal shop in Duisburg

Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa

Four defendants have been convicted in the trial of more than 300 stolen wedding dresses and luxury cosmetics worth almost half a million euros.

The Düsseldorf district court imposed a sentence of four years and eight months in prison on the 28-year-old main perpetrator from Bottrop.

This was announced by a court spokeswoman.

The court also ordered the man's cocaine addiction to put him in a rehab clinic.

His 29-year-old wife was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison for selling the stolen cosmetics online.

The main perpetrator's brother was sentenced to two years' probation.

The fourth accused, a 53-year-old with multiple convictions, has to go to prison for one year for being an accessory.

The court considered the confessions of the defendants to mitigate the sentence.

The 28-year-old entered the Düsseldorf warehouse of a global luxury goods group more than 30 times and stole crates of luxury cosmetics worth almost half a million euros.

The court found that his older brother was there five times.

Some of the loot was bunkered in a container rented under a false name in the port of Düsseldorf.

The police also found more than 300 wedding dresses there, which had been stolen in June 2020 from a Düsseldorf bridal shop in the city center.

"I only kept the clothes because my drug dealer pressured me," the 28-year-old explained.

In return, he waived his debts of 2,500 euros.

That could not be disproved.

The verdict, which was handed out late on Wednesday, is not yet final.

mgo/dpa/AFP