Judge Günther Hammerdinger made the "saubär" verdict.
A bus driver was accused of assault and insult to a boy.
Altötting – The Altötting district court director Günther Hammerdinger is currently getting quite a lot of mail – and mostly it is not a friendly one.
He made the Altöttinger "Saubär" verdict.
The Passauer Neue Presse
first reported on it
, but the case soon caused a national stir.
"Saubär": The bus driver is said to have asked eleven-year-olds to take their dirty boots off the seat
As reported, a 57-year-old school bus driver has to pay 500 euros to the child protection agency because she called an eleven-year-old "pig".
The boy is said to have left his dirty boots on the bus seat - and left them there after the bus driver asked him to take his feet off.
A quarrel ensued.
The woman called the eleven-year-old Saubär and nudged him on the shoulder, as she said in court.
The boy's parents reported the bus driver.
The report was followed by a penalty order.
It says that the bus driver called the boy "pig" and hit him in the neck with her open palm.
In south-eastern Bavaria this is called a "Gnackwatschn".
This blow caused the student pain, but left no injuries.
However, the bus driver received a penalty order for intentional bodily harm and insult.
The amount of the penalty order exceeded the sum of 500 euros several times over, reports the judge.
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Richter explains his "pig bear" verdict: the bus driver "poked" eleven-year-olds
Günther Hammerdinger emphasizes that there is no doubt that physical assaults, especially against children, should be punished.
However, the bus driver did not accept the amount of the penalty in the penalty order – that’s why the process came about.
Only the defendant's point of view was heard during the proceedings.
"She spoke of a nudge instead of a blow and the word pig instead of pig," says the judge.
“That means she didn't admit the accusation.” The court should have put the boy on the witness stand to hear him and to describe his version of the incident – which, by the way, hasn't been refuted.
They wanted to spare him that.
Hammerdinger agreed with the bus driver's defense attorney and the public prosecutor's office to drop the case on condition that she pay the 500 euros to the child protection agency.
"That was only possible with the consent of the accused," emphasizes the judge.
"Only because of the insult, there would have been no procedure." He closed the case by advising the eleven-year-old to follow instructions from bus drivers in the future.
He wished the 57-year-old calmness on the school bus.
MARKUS CHRISTANDL
