In a high-profile trial before the 2nd Grand Juvenile Chamber at the Ellwangen Regional Court, a 20-year-old kickboxer from the Ostalbkreis district was sentenced to a two-year suspended juvenile sentence for a serious attack in Aalen’s bar district. In February 2025, the young man severely injured a 35-year-old with a punch and two high kicks. The victim suffered, among other injuries, a cerebral hemorrhage, skull fracture, and complete loss of sense of smell and taste.
The defendant was originally charged with attempted manslaughter. The prosecution and the victim’s legal representative considered the brutality of the attack and the defendant’s kickboxing experience as evidence of intent to kill. Nevertheless, defense attorney Mathias Brenner succeeded, through a strategic defense approach and the offer of victim-offender mediation in the amount of €10,000 to the victim—delivered on the first day of trial—in achieving a significant reduction in sentencing.
The court ultimately found no evidence of intent to kill, but classified the offense as aggravated assault. Decisive factors in the lenient decision were the defendant’s positive social prognosis, his stable family environment, and his ongoing vocational training at an industrial company. The juvenile sentence was suspended. K. must perform 100 hours of community service and will be under probation supervision for two years.
The articles can be found here: https://www.schwaebische-post.de/ostalb/ellwangen/stadt-ellwangen/ellwangen-prozess-um-versuchten-totschlag-nach-kneipenstreit-93732378.html and https://www.schwaebische-post.de/ostalb/aalen/jugendstrafe-auf-bewaehrung-koerperverletzung-in-aalen-93742046.html
