A 57-year-old has been working for Deutsche Bahn for over 40 years - in recent years as a dispatcher in Schongau.
Now he came into conflict with the law for the first time: In his affect he had hit a man with a rubber club.
Schongau
- "I should have solved the situation differently," said the defendant now ruefully in front of the Weilheim district court.
In retrospect, he would have informed the police immediately, the confessing man said.
The situation turned out to be very stressful for him in February of last year: A man had illegally crossed the tracks at Schongau train station.
The train even issued a warning with a horn.
A friend of this man waited until the train stopped, but then also crossed the tracks and, like his friend, got into the sights of the accused dispatcher.
He felt threatened
"I'm responsible for security," he said in court.
At that time he confronted the men.
There was a verbal argument and, as the defendant stated, he felt threatened by one of the two men.
How it ultimately came to the initially violent verbal and then physical exchange between the accused and a man could not be clarified beyond doubt.
What was certain was that the defendant stepped out of his office building at Schongau train station after a heated discussion and, armed with a rubber truncheon, hit the injured party.
It hit him on the side of the neck.
A painful bruise was the result.
An expert consulted assessed the rubber baton as a dangerous weapon that could have had far worse consequences.
"A blow to the larynx would have been fatal," he said.
Even a more violent blow to the neck could have caused life-threatening vascular damage.
Baton classified as a weapon
In any case, the appraiser classified the rubber stick as a dangerous weapon, and the offense was therefore classified as dangerous bodily harm.
In court, however, it could no longer be proven with what force the defendant hit the injured party.
The angle at which the man drew back was described in various ways by witnesses.
The defendant regretted the whole thing: "I should have called the police immediately," he said.
Witnesses who followed the argument had made it.
The presiding judge Stefanie Rainer sentenced the previously innocent man to a fine of 10,440 euros, i.e. 180 daily rates of 58 euros each.
From a daily rate of 90 euros, the man would have a criminal record.
Regina Wahl-Geiger
