From custody to the autumn holidays: In February, Yamen H. (18), a high school student from Syria, attacked two classmates (17, 18) with a knife in front of the school and seriously injured them. Since the attack in front of the Catholic Hildegardis School in Hagen, the young man has spent 233 days in custody in the Wuppertal-Ronsdorf prison. Until now.
On Friday morning, the knifeman was able to leave the court without handcuffs. A few minutes before, the court had reached a verdict: the knife attack was not a double attempted murder, but “only” dangerous bodily harm according to the judges! Sentence: three years in prison – the arrest warrant was temporarily suspended.
At the beginning of August, the trial began in camera. Reason: protection of minors. The accused was a minor at the time of the crime. A trivial argument about insults between five upper school students during lunch break seemed to be settled when Yamen H. suddenly attacked from behind with a folding knife (blade 7.2 centimetres) and stabbed one student (18) three times in the head.
Because another youth (17) intervened and tried to overpower Yamen H., the 18-year-old survived the violent knife attack. Both victims were injured and are still struggling with the consequences of the attack.
Senior public prosecutor Bernd Haldorn had pleaded for attempted manslaughter and four years in prison. According to information from the newspaper BILD, however, the court assumed that the attempt had been rescinded – because the Syrian had folded the knife after the last stab. The victim’s parents to BILD: “This verdict makes you angry: it’s a completely wrong message.”
Yamen will have to start his prison sentence soon, and the time he has served in pre-trial detention will probably be credited to him. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
