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Boy hoping for candy on Halloween (symbolic image)
Photo: Aleksandra Kaiudina / iStockphoto / Getty Images
Because he had pursued a nine-year-old boy with a knife on Halloween, a 48-year-old has been sentenced to a fine by the Hamburg-Harburg District Court. The defendant is to pay 900 euros for coercion, a court spokesman said. The verdict from late Tuesday is not yet final.
According to the verdict, the nine-year-old, who is said to be "mentally impaired" according to a report in the "Hamburger Abendblatt", rang the doorbell of the 31-year-old on October 2022, 48 on the occasion of Halloween celebration. The man opened the door for the boy barefoot and in a bathrobe. According to the court, he also held the knife in his hand.
The boy then fled up a flight of stairs and past the garden gate, where his mother was waiting. The defendant chased the nine-year-old and shouted "trick or treat". According to the verdict, he held the knife at shoulder height until the boy's mother could intervene. As the »Hamburger Abendblatt« reports, the boy still has nightmares and cannot sleep in the dark.
Basket of "evidence"
The man was acquitted of the accusation of property damage that he had cut the boy's fabric basket in the shape of a pumpkin with a knife. Here, the court had only found that there had been a scramble for the basket, the spokesman explained.
The defendant had defended himself in the proceedings against a fine order. As the Hamburger Abendblatt reported, he is said to have defended himself in court. In addition, he is said to have brought a basket of "evidence" to the trial date, including the bathrobe and pink rubber shoes he wore when he was arrested, as well as a collection of domestic kitchen knives.
He had left a "slightly confused impression" with trial observers.
SWE/AFP