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Courtroom in Meldorf: Hearing took place behind closed doors

Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa

Four girls have to do community service as a consequence of an attack on a 13-year-old girl in Heide. The district court of Meldorf (Dithmarschen) warned the young people aged 14 to 17 and imposed 50 hours of community service on them each. In addition, they must complete an anti-violence and victim empathy training as a group, as a spokeswoman for the Itzehoe district court announced. The warning was given for dangerous bodily injury in combination with coercion, damage to property and violation of personal rights through image recordings.

The defendants had beaten and humiliated the girl on February 21. The crime was filmed via smartphone and disseminated on the Internet. The incident had caused nationwide horror. The hearing before a juvenile jury court took place behind closed doors. The accused juveniles had no criminal record. They had confessed to the crime and apologized to the victim, even before the trial. According to the spokeswoman, three out of four defendants waived their right to appeal. For them, the verdict is final.

Cigarette ash and cola poured over the head

According to a report by the Schleswig-Holstein newspaper publisher (SHZ), the victim was hit on the nose and cigarette ash and cola were poured over his head. The girl cried desperately, breathed in panic, begged and pleaded. A five-minute video shows three strokes. But the martyrdom of the child is said to have lasted longer, as the mother told the newspaper publisher. The young people are said to have later squeezed out a cigarette on the daughter's left cheek and set fire to her hair.

According to the public prosecutor's office, another investigation is underway against two male adolescents because of the crime. The group that abused the 13-year-old also included a girl of the same age. However, since this 13-year-old is not criminally responsible, she could not be investigated, as a spokesman for the authority explained.

The state government had described the incident as "an extraordinary incident of violence". The Heide case once again underlines the importance of school social and parent work as well as prevention services offered by the police, State Secretary Dorit Stenke said at the beginning of May in the Education Committee of the state parliament.

Change of criminal responsibility in conversation

Previously, Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) had called for a discussion of the question of whether an earlier criminal responsibility could be an effective means of combating juvenile delinquency. "I do not completely rule out a change in the age of criminal responsibility," the minister told the Hamburger Abendblatt.

According to police crime statistics, the crime of children and adolescents in Schleswig-Holstein has risen sharply in the past year. Among those under 14 years of age, the number of suspects increased by 21.9 percent. The police identified 2332 boys and 1064 girls. Among 14- to 18-year-olds, the increase was 14.9 percent. 4714 male and 1850 female adolescents were identified as suspects.

According to the statistics, typical juvenile offenses are mainly graffiti, the dissemination of pornographic content and damage to property on streets, squares and paths. Robbery is in sixth place, bodily injury in ninth.

Nationwide, the proportion of children in the number of suspects also rose sharply, by 35.5 percent to 93,095 suspected children (0 to under 14 years). In Heide, there had been major problems with juvenile delinquency on the Südermarkt last year, which is why the central square had been temporarily declared a "dangerous place".

lmd/dpa