Grandmother acquitted of stalking her granddaughter

A 65-year-old woman has been acquitted of stalking her 13-year-old granddaughter, with the Salzburg Regional Court finding no evidence of the offence, ORF reported.

The case arose from a family dispute in the Pinzgau region. The girl’s father reported his mother after she visited the area near the girl’s school several times.

The grandmother told the court that she had gone to the school three or four times out of desperation to speak with her granddaughter. Contact with the girl had broken down after a dispute with the child’s parents.

The granddaughter testified that her grandmother had appeared at the school between five and seven times. On one occasion, she accepted a 10-euro note from her for a school trip. She said she had not sent her grandmother away because she was afraid.

The judge said there was no doubt that the woman should be acquitted. She described the case as a family conflict in which the granddaughter had been caught between the two sides.

Stalking investigations against the girl’s grandfather had already been discontinued before the trial.

The Salzburg Regional Court has not dealt with a similar case involving persistent pursuit between a grandmother and granddaughter in recent months. Stalking cases that reach court usually involve former couples.