Karlsruhe/Hanau (dpa/lhe) – The district court in Hanau has to deal again with an escalated dispute over a shopping trolley. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe saw a legal error and lifted the conviction of a man, among other things, for attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm. The top judges ordered a new hearing, as can be seen from their decision, which was announced on Tuesday.
In June 2021, the district court sentenced a then 32-year-old defendant to six years and seven months in prison. The Hanau judges saw it as proven that the man in Schöneck (Main-Kinzig district) had hit an opponent with his car and seriously injured him. A flippant comment about an empty shopping cart triggered the “completely irrelevant dispute” between the two in February 2020, according to the verdict. In the further course, the accused is said to have deliberately hit the then 42-year-old. After the collision, he got out and kicked the seriously injured man in the head.
The BGH judges reprimanded the statements of the district court on the question of whether the accused had resigned from attempted manslaughter. The regional court denied this “on the grounds that it was incorrect in law”.
The defendant had appealed against his conviction at the Federal Court of Justice. His defense had pleaded for acquittal before the district court.