Holes drilled in Emden lightship: imprisonment

Created: 06/09/2022, 16:36

The Museum Lightship Amrumbank/ German Bay is located on the Ratsdelft in the city center.

© Sina Schuldt/dpa/image archive

Thousands of liters of harbor water flow through four boreholes in the hull into the engine room of the Emden museum lightship "Amrumbank/Deutsche Bucht".

Now a man has been sentenced for the sabotage - but the most pressing question remains open.

Emden - With four drill holes in the hull, a 46-year-old man tried to sink the Emden museum lightship and landmark of the city "Amrumbank/Deutsche Bucht".

On Tuesday, the Emden District Court sentenced the accused to one year and seven months in prison for damage to property and theft.

Judge Henrik Gläsel saw it as proven that the man had broken into the 127-year-old ship in mid-June 2021 and had drilled the holes in the engine room below the waterline in the hull with a drill he had brought with him.

"You did that with the intention of sinking the lightship," said Gläsel in the direction of the accused.

The verdict is not yet legally binding.

(File number: 6Ds 520 Js 33550/21 (25/22))

The fact that the burglary and the sabotage were discovered the day after the crime was due to coincidence, as the chairman of the Museum Lightship Association, Heinz-Günther Buß, reported in court.

The eight-year-old daughter of the association's ship engineer had seen several open portholes and a slight tilt on the bright red ship while walking along the Ratsdelft.

The burglary was then quickly discovered, but almost 20 cubic meters of harbor water had already run into the ship, which had just been renovated for around five million euros.

“Water poured out of four holes.

That was a real jet of water,” recalled Buss.

To this day, the club is struggling with the consequences and costs of the crime.

There was damage of around 125,000 euros.

The accused admitted the act at the hearing without hesitation: "I just went in and drilled the holes," said the 46-year-old, who says he is now in a wheelchair because of thrombosis in both legs.

To do this, he smashed a window and gained access via the galley.

After the fact, he also stole two kilo cans of gummy bears, which is why the court also convicted him of theft.

The 46-year-old even announced to acquaintances that he wanted to sink the lightship, who now testified as witnesses.

But they didn't believe him at first.

Why the man sabotaged the ship at all remained unclear until the end.

"My act was more of a message," said the convicted Emder, who had previously received psychiatric treatment several times.

He wanted people to "put the brakes on" and criticized that people "always only care about the money".

Exactly what he meant by that remains unclear.

The 46-year-old also said that the end of his alcohol addiction in early 2021 and the corona pandemic had led to a "upheaval" for him.

"I'm a bit freaked out inside."

Neither the public prosecutor's office nor the court saw any signs of reduced criminal responsibility, for example due to a mental illness, which an expert in the trial had found in the accused.

"He knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong," the prosecutor said.

The defense did not name a specific sentence, but called for the sentence to be suspended.

The court largely followed the request of the public prosecutor, who had asked for a sentence of one year and ten months.

The accused had caused "considerable damage" and was neither less able to understand nor less able to control, said judge Gläsel.

The long criminal record also spoke against a suspended sentence.

dpa