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Defendant (right) before the trial begins on Tuesday: "I will feel the guilt for the rest of my life"
Photo: Philipp Schulze / dpa
Almost eight months after the fatal wheel loader accident during a summer camp, the unfortunate driver was sentenced to 15 months in prison. The Lüneburg regional court found the 44-year-old guilty of the negligent killing of two people and negligent injury in eleven cases. The sentence is suspended. The public prosecutor's office had demanded a one and a half year prison sentence for the farmer. The public prosecutor and defense accepted the verdict, the co-prosecution still wants to consult.
The defendant apologizes
The accident occurred last June in the small community south of Hamburg. The 44-year-old defendant used his wheel loader to transport the steel mesh box in which several participants in the leisure activity were located. The box crashed. A father and a five-year-old boy died and eleven children were injured, some of them seriously. In his last word, the defendant apologized. "I'm so sorry, I'll feel the guilt for the rest of my life," he said.
An expert submitted a new investigation after he was unable to establish beyond doubt how the accident occurred at the start of the trial. Finally, he ruled out a technical defect.
swe/dpa