Two men from Poland have had to answer before the criminal judge for attempting to steal stolen goods. The suspects are said to have tried to take two stolen cars with fake license plates across the border into Poland. The public prosecutor’s office accused them of bypassing the police checkpoint and fleeing through meadows and fields. The vehicles were worth 15,000 and 40,000 euros, respectively. The two men were brought in from custody for trial.
Perpetrators claim to have acted in need of money
The defense lawyers for the 46 and 48 year old defendants fully admitted the allegations. The defendants said they regretted the behavior. They were in a precarious situation at the time, had debts and urgently needed money. They were to receive 2000 zloty (today: 450 euros) for this. They were brought from Poland to Hamburg in a transporter and took over the vehicles there. “But they had nothing to do with the theft of the cars,” said the lawyers. It was probably the usual procedure.
A police officer as a witness stated that the stolen vehicles were discovered. These continued one after the other towards Gartz. That’s why a barrier was set up. “One car swerved and drove around us, the other turned off beforehand and fled across the country,” reported the police officer. According to the officer, both suspects were caught after a long chase.
Significant criminal record
The defendant’s confession made it possible to dispense with the need for further witnesses. But the defendants are known to the courts, have significant previous convictions and have already served six or four years in prison.
Confession is a mitigating punishment
“It is stolen goods that were not completed,” the prosecutor began his plea. “The confession mitigates the punishment, but the many previous convictions, including relevant ones, leave no room for maneuver.” The public prosecutor’s demand was 18 or 16 months in prison without parole. The defense attorneys, on the other hand, pleaded for a lenient sentence that should be suspended because of the remorse shown and the five months in custody he had already served. But the criminal judge did not share this view and in her verdict ordered a prison sentence of one year for each of the attempted stolen goods. The many previous convictions and the living conditions did not allow for a favorable social prognosis, it was stated in the reasons for the verdict.
