One day he knocked on the bedroom window of their ground floor apartment at 8 a.m. and didn’t leave until 11 p.m. When the stranger kept showing up, even though the 23-year-old had called the police and had him removed several times, she filed a report. The 22-year-old was heard at the regional court on Tuesday.
“I liked her”
The public prosecutor accused the defendant of persistent persecution (§ 107a StGB). After June 4th, when he stared for hours into someone else’s bedroom facing the street, the man also positioned himself in front of the apartment on June 11th and 14th, July 23rd and August 11th and 25th The prosecutor explained that the woman looked through the window and observed the woman. From the perspective of the public prosecutor, the person concerned was unreasonably affected in her way of life.
The defendant confessed to the stalking allegation. “I developed feelings for her. I liked her,” he admitted. He obviously didn’t dare to speak to the person concerned – for whatever reason.
“It was a shock for me”
For the 23-year-old, things weren’t just unpleasant. It also frightened her, as she confirmed in her testimony. The stranger also came across her while she was walking in a park and one day he was sitting a few meters away from her on the same bus. She later learned from the police that the defendant had declared that he “loved” her: “It was a shock for me. I’m married.” At the end of August she finally recorded him on video and reported him. Since then she has had peace: “But I always have the feeling that he is following me. I won’t stay in this apartment anymore. I can’t stay there anymore.”
“It will never happen again”
“It will never happen again,” the defendant promised single judge Petra Poschalko at the end. In view of his comprehensive admission of responsibility and his previous cleanliness, the 22-year-old escaped conviction. The judge decided on a diversionary discharge, which meant the man was spared a criminal record. He agreed to perform 120 hours of community service. In addition, his defense attorney handed over 300 euros to the husband of the person affected in the hearing room as financial compensation – the woman herself had not made any claims during her questioning.
The decision is not formally legally binding. The prosecutor initially made no statement.
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