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CRIME

Armed robbery at Vienna jewellery store

An upmarket jewellery shop in Vienna’s 1st district was robbed on Thursday afternoon by two masked men who attacked and injured a security guard.

Armed robbery at Vienna jewellery store
The exterior of the jewellers. Photo: APA

The men got away with jewellery and some high-end watches. It’s not yet clear how much their haul was worth.

Two employees who were working in the Schullin shop on Kohlmarkt were threatened at gunpoint by one of the men, whilst the other smashed display cases with a home made hammer.

The security guard was hit in the back of the neck. Christmas shoppers saw him lying motionless on the ground outside the shop and called the police but by the time they arrived the thieves, who were wearing balaclavas and scarves, had escaped.

The guard was taken to hospital to check that he had no spinal injuries.

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CRIME

Austria investigates 17 teens for alleged sexual abuse of girl

Austrian authorities on Friday said they were investigating 17 teenagers - including 12 minors - over the alleged months-long sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl in Vienna last year.

Austria investigates 17 teens for alleged sexual abuse of girl

The alleged offences took place in a disadvantaged area of the capital’s south “between February and June 2023, in toilets, garages, a hotel and in the perpetrators’ homes”, Florian Finda, deputy director of the Vienna police, told a news conference.

The suspects in the rare case – most of whom are aged between 14 and 18 – are of Bulgarian, Italian, Serbian, Syrian and Turkish origin.

Two of them are under 14 and therefore below Austria’s age of criminal responsibility.

The suspects – almost all of whom were known to police for other offences – are accused of serious sexual abuse of a minor, including the pornographic depiction of the abuse of a minor.

Thirteen suspects were questioned on Thursday, with some of them partially denying the allegations.

The suspects and the Austrian victim met through one of the accused, with whom the then 12-year-old is said to have made out with.

She was then introduced to the rest of the group.

The boys allegedly exchanged videos and photos of the abuse via social networks including WhatsApp chats, with one of them allegedly threatening to share the pornographic material.

According to the police, none of the material was made available to the wider public.

In October, the young girl, now 13, informed her mother, who subsequently filed a complaint.

The ongoing investigation is due to be transferred to the public prosecutor’s office.

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