Leopoldshöhe (dpa / lnw) – A 15-year-old is in custody because he is said to have injured a 19-year-old so badly on New Year’s Eve in the Lippe district that he could remain blind in one eye. The youth is accused of serious bodily harm, as the police and prosecutors announced on Thursday. Together with other young suspects, he is said to have attacked a group of young people, to which the 19-year-old belonged.
According to the information, around eight perpetrators attacked the six men and women aged 19 and 20 in the Leopoldshöhe community around midnight. According to a statement by the investigators, they had been waiting peacefully for the turn of the year. A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that, according to current knowledge, the attacker and the victim probably did not know each other, but rather clashed during the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Three women and two men were slightly injured. The 19-year-old was beaten and kicked so badly that he had to be hospitalized. The 15-year-old is considered one of the main perpetrators. The other parties involved are still under investigation. The police and prosecutors were looking for witnesses after the crime. After extensive investigations and detailed witness statements, the 15-year-old was finally arrested last Friday.
