Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – Two suspected champagne thieves have been on trial since Tuesday before the Frankfurt District Court. According to the indictment, the two 35 and 56-year-old men are said to have broken into a restaurant on Frankfurt’s Opernplatz in August 2021 and stolen a single bottle of champagne with a sales value of 4,800 euros. The following night they are said to have stolen five bottles of champagne worth several hundred euros from another bar.
Only the older defendant, who had been in custody since his arrest and made a partial confession in court, appeared at the trial on Tuesday. The 35-year-old from the Bavarian district of Donau-Ries stayed away from the hearing. The background to the burglaries was apparently the drug addiction of the 56-year-old. Because the court and the public prosecutor’s office still saw a need for clarification, several witnesses are now to be heard. The trial was therefore adjourned until early March.