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Court upholds sentence for subway robber

A Swedish court upheld an 18-month prison sentence for the 28-year-old man who robbed a drunken man who lay passed out on a Stockholm subway track and left him to have his legs mangled by a train.

Court upholds sentence for subway robber

The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm also confirmed the 5,000 kronor ($765) in damages that the 28 year-old had been ordered to pay to the 38-year-old victim.

The robber, a Tunisian citizen, will be deported upon the completion of his prison sentence, and will then be barred from re-entering Sweden for five years.

However, the court did not uphold the prosecutor’s demand for a tougher sentence.

The prosecutor had asked the appeals court for a three and a half-year prison sentence and 10,000 kronor in damages.

Video surveillance footage of the incident shocked Sweden earlier this year, showing the victim staggering on a subway platform before losing his balance and falling face-first onto the tracks, where he lay

unconscious.

The robber is then seen jumping onto the tracks and stealing the man’s mobile phone, a gold chain, a small bag and 1,500 kronor in cash before calmly leaving the scene.

Seven minutes later, a subway train enters the station. The driver slams on the brakes upon seeing the drunk man on the tracks, but not in time to avoid driving over his legs, causing him to lose a foot and suffer serious knee injury.

In court the robber explained that he had needed money to pay for food and rent. He explained that he had not helped his victim because he feared he would be suspected of having pushed him on to the tracks.

“Had I known there were cameras I would not have robbed him. I would have helped him,” he said.

AFP/The Local/nr

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PRISON

Intern at German prison faces hefty bill after sending photo of master key to friends

A man on a work placement at a prison in the state of Brandenburg was immediately dismissed from his internship after sending friends a photo of the prison's master key via the messenger service WhatsApp.

Intern at German prison faces hefty bill after sending photo of master key to friends
A prison key. Photo: DPA

The man now faces paying a bill of up to €50,000 after Brandenburg’s justice ministry had to pay for the immediate replacement of 600 locks in the prison, Bild newspaper reports.

A photograph of a key could provide enough information for a skilled locksmith to be able to replicate it, leading the prison to fear that keys could be smuggled through to the inmates.

The justice department received a tip off that the intern had shared a picture of the master key for the JVA Heidering prison at the end of February. “A large number of cells and corridor doors had to have their locks changed,” a spokesman told Bild.

Some twenty prison guards worked into the early hours of the following morning to ensure that all the locks were changed.

The prison is situated just outside the city boundaries of Berlin on the southwestern edge of the capital.

“The internship ended with immediate effect and the intern was issued with a ban on entering the building,” the spokesperson said.

SEE ALSO: Seventh prisoner escapes from Berlin jail within a week

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