More than four years after the death of an abused infant in bielefeld, the hagen regional court has sentenced the child’s father to eight years in prison.
As a court spokesman explained, the defendant, who was at liberty until the sentencing, was arrested in the courtroom.
The 36-year-old german had been sentenced in a first trial in november 2016 by the district court of bielefeld for negligent bodily injury to one year and three months imprisonment on probation. The public prosecutor’s office successfully appealed against this decision.
The three-month-old son of the defendant had died in november 2015. At the time of the autopsy, the judges found several bone fractures, which indicate fresh and old abuse. The boy’s twin sister had also suffered massive injuries several times after her birth. The girl lives today in a foster family.
The defendant had stated to the police that he had lifted the children out of their beds at the same time. They slipped out of his arm and accidentally fell down. In the verdict in hagen, however, there was now talk of a "continuous martyrdom of the two suckers". Such violence can no longer be explained by negligence. The verdict is not yet final.