Status: 08.12.2023, 19:10 PM
By: Volker Ufertinger
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Under tension: Ex-professional soccer player Jens Lehmann (left) and his defender Dr. Christoph Rückel. © DPA
Ex-professional soccer player Jens Lehmann denies having damaged his neighbor's garage with a chainsaw. Instead, he attacks the prosecutor.
Starnberg – The right tactics are important, in sport as well as in the judiciary. The former goalkeeper of the German national football team, Jens Lehmann (54), who lives in Berg, decided to attack on Friday before the Starnberg district court. He sharply criticized the prosecution for bringing him to court in the first place. "The fact that we're only raised so big here because I used to play football and so many people know me," he said. "This borders on character assassination, and that is perhaps even worse than murder." Prosecutor Stephan Kreutzer countered coolly: "The public prosecutor can already see from you that you believe that you are above the law when it comes to smaller things in the lower penalty range."
In fact, the indictment included several offenses that were quite something. On the one hand, there was an insult: Lehmann had called two officers who wanted to confiscate his driver's license because of a one-month driving ban "liars". In addition, he had twice saved himself the parking fee at Munich Airport by hanging on to the bumper of a car in front of him and driving through the open barrier. Thirdly – and this case caused a nationwide sensation – according to the public prosecutor's office, he had entered his neighbor's property in the late morning of July 25 last year and sawed a dormer window on the garage in order to continue to have an unobstructed view of the lake. Even a young birch tree had to believe in it. In other words, trespassing in conjunction with damage to property. "This is vigilante justice, and we are very sensitive on this point," the prosecutor added.
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The ex-goalkeeper, who gave his job title as "job-seeking football coach", presented a completely different version. He claimed: "I am on good terms with my neighbour and just wanted to cut the hedge for him." In fact, the property is the holiday home of architect Walter Winkelmann (92), who spends most of his time in Munich. The ex-kicker did not deny that there was a bitter dispute over the garage. That's why he entered the first floor of the garage. "I wanted to see if he could put a lounge up there. That's forbidden." He had nothing to do with the sawn-off dormer. He just said, "I've learned that you shouldn't suspect anyone wrong."
Neighbor Walter Winkelmann had a dispute with Lehmann over a garage. © Britta Schultejans
Walter Winkelmann (92) shed some light on the matter. Since the construction of the garage in 2021, the conflict with Lehmann, whom he always ironically called "my dear neighbor", has escalated: "The correspondence was lively and includes six kilos of Leitz folders." He did not remember that he had asked him to cut the hedge or even to cut down the birch. Chainsaws are also conceivably unsuitable for this. "That's nonsense, the branches are swerving." Incidentally, the dispute with Lehmann had been resolved. The ex-keeper had agreed to pay 60,000 euros just a few days ago. "That's a drop in the ocean," says Winkelmann. The fact that he subsequently withdrew his criminal complaint plays only a subordinate role in the trial. The public prosecutor's office has affirmed the special public interest in the damage to property, which means that the trial will continue. Only the accusation of trespassing is invalid.
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There are two short videos of Lehmann in the neighbor's garage. According to the findings of the public prosecutor's office, the native of Essen knew about the camera installed at the neighboring house and tore out the cable to disguise the subsequent chainsaw action. However, the camera continued to run on battery power for a short while. Judge Tanja Walter had both sequences played on the first day of the trial. On the first one, you can see Lehmann stopping briefly on the scooter and lifting his head towards the dormer. In the second, the keeper in a T-shirt and shorts appears at the right edge of the picture with a chainsaw in his hand and starts exactly at the spot that was later sawn off. But you can't tell beyond doubt that he's cutting. "That's my client, we admit that," explained lawyer Dr. Christoph Rückel. "But you don't see any action."
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Rather, the lawyer asked what had happened between the timestamp of the video at 11:50 a.m. and the arrival of the police around 15 p.m.? Is there anyone who knew the video and sawed on the dormer window to pin something on Lehmann? The trial will resume on Friday, December 22.
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