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Flowers at the scene of the accident (January 2021): Three people died
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
The district court in Kiel has sentenced a 26-year-old driver to four years and three months in prison for manslaughter.
In January 2021, the man drove into a pedestrian group in Neumünster under drugs.
During the death drive, a 34-year-old man and his 30-year-old partner died at the scene of the accident, both of whom were police officers.
The woman's younger sister succumbed to her injuries a few days later.
In addition, the court ordered the placement of the drug-addicted defendant in a rehabilitation center.
With the verdict, the court largely followed the criminal complaint of the public prosecutor.
She had demanded four years and nine months in prison for the driver for negligent homicide.
The man's defense attorney pleaded for a maximum of three years in prison.
According to the indictment, the driver hit several bollards, a traffic sign and a tree during the accident.
Accordingly, he lost control of his car because of “excessive speed”, he was also under the influence of drugs and was driving without a license.
This had previously been taken away from him.
The court therefore also convicted the 26-year-old of illegal trading and possession of narcotics and driving without a license.
"He gets a light sentence, we have life imprisonment"
The defendant failed to appear on the first day of the trial.
In the process he was silent.
Only before the verdict did he apologize in his closing remarks to the surviving relatives of the accident victims.
You are a joint plaintiff.
He would like to undo the day, said the 26-year-old.
Judge Stephan Worpenberg described the punishment as "fair debt settlement".
The relatives of the dead, on the other hand, were disappointed and with tears.
It was incomprehensible, said the father of the killed sisters: "He gets a light sentence, we have life imprisonment."
bbr/dpa/AFP