Court sentences man to 54 months for serious assault

A 37-year-old man was sentenced to 54 months in prison by the Klagenfurt Regional Court on Wednesday for seriously injuring a woman, ORF reported. He was accused of knocking her down in a residential building and repeatedly kicking her in the face and upper body. The woman suffered serious injuries.

The woman from St Andrä in the Lavant Valley suffered numerous bruises, several cuts to her face and fractures to her body and face after the attack last May. She is believed to have been a random victim. The defendant and the woman were not officially acquainted.

The man denied being responsible for her injuries. He said he had been partying for several days and was not in the residential building at the time of the alleged attack.

Several acquaintances testified as defence witnesses, but their statements contradicted one another. Judge Gernot Kugi said he found no contradictions in the woman’s account and that photographs of her injuries were clear.

Kugi justified the sentence by citing the defendant’s numerous previous convictions, including convictions for similar offences. The judge also said the man had reoffended soon after completing his last prison term.

The verdict is not legally binding.