Court sentences four teenagers over Großebersdorf home invasion

Four teenagers have been sentenced to prison terms for a violent home invasion in Großebersdorf, Lower Austria, in which a 15-year-old boy was threatened with a gun and robbed. ORF reported that the Vienna Regional Criminal Court convicted the defendants on Friday.

Three defendants, aged 17, 18 and 19, were found guilty of aggravated robbery, bodily harm and serious coercion. The two older defendants each received six years in prison, with two years to be served unconditionally. The 17-year-old was sentenced to three and a half years, including 14 months to be served in prison.

A fourth defendant, aged 15, received the same sentence as the 17-year-old because of his contribution to the crime. The defendants’ admissions were taken into account as a mitigating factor. The judgments are not yet legally binding because the prosecutor has not made a statement. The defence lawyers accepted the decisions.

On the morning of April 2, the gang entered the house in Großebersdorf through a smashed window. Three intruders woke the 15-year-old in his parents’ home, beat him and forced him to move through the house with what appeared to be a gun pointed at his head.

The victim believed the gun was real, although it was a blank-firing pistol. The attackers made him accompany them through every room while he was crying. After about 15 minutes, they had collected jewellery and cash worth almost 18,000 euros. Before leaving, one of them threatened him, saying: “If you talk, I’ll cut you open.”

The boy suffered a head contusion, a cervical spine strain and a post-traumatic stress reaction. He testified without the defendants present and behind closed doors.

The defendants, who came from Syria, were tried in Vienna because all of them were registered in the capital. The 18-year-old’s cousin, who was charged as an accomplice, was said to have suggested the home invasion.

The 15-year-old defendant had attended the same school as the victim and had extorted money from him. He was alleged to have received 63,000 euros from the boy, leading him to believe that the family had substantial sums of money. He allegedly promised his cousin and the others at least 200,000 euros and demanded a 15,000-euro share of the proceeds for providing the tip.

The gang had monitored the house since the end of March. They knew the parents left for work early and that their son was alone in the house in the morning. In addition to the blank-firing pistol, they carried knives and pepper spray in case they encountered the family’s dogs.