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11 years jail for kidnapping at gunpoint

A 28-year-old Slovakian man was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Graz on Wednesday, for an aggravated car-jacking and armed robbery.

Published: 29 January 2015 10:22 CET

The events occurred in November 2014, when a 26-year-old pregnant woman waiting in a parking lot in Ansfelden, Upper Austria, had the door of her car ripped open, and a gas-powered pistol held to her head.

The 28-year-old Slovak man forced the woman to take himself and his 18-year-old female companion on a three hour journey at gunpoint, according to a report from Austria's national broadcaster, ORF.

The criminal duo sat in the back seat, with the man holding the gun to the hapless driver's head for some of the journey. He also robbed the woman of €70, which he claimed in the trial she had given to them voluntarily to pay for food.

The man ordered the woman to take them to a railway station at Peggau in Styria. Once the pair had left, the woman quickly sought help at a nearby pub. A fast police response meant that the man and his accomplice, who had some health problems including epilepsy, were quickly arrested.

At his trial, the man admitted that he held the gun to her head, but said that after ten minutes he had second thoughts, and decided he had made a mistake, so he put the gun away and apologized.

The victim, who at the time of the forced carpooling was pregnant, still suffers from post-traumatic stress, with nightmares and anxiety. The accused had to be taken to another room while she gave her evidence.

During questioning, the man explained that the reason he had two guns and several knives with him was because he lived in a forest, and needed to protect himself from wild animals.

He was charged with aggravated robbery, and aggravated coercion. The non-final verdict was 11 years in prison.

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Are there 'young gangs' forming in Vienna?

Austrian tabloid media jumps on such stories: a group of teenage girls breaking into cars in Linz or vandalism and robberies committed by young people in Vienna. Particularly in the capital, it seems that there was a rise in crimes committed by groups of young people. But does that mean that Vienna has a gang problem?

According to the newspaper daily Der Standard, the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate (LPD) repeatedly states that the much-cited youth gangs do not exist but that there is “an increase in young people appearing in groups and committing offences”.

What does that mean, and what is the difference between “young people appearing in groups and committing offences” and gangs?

According to the police: “The term gang is commonly used in everyday language – without a precise definition in this context. In criminal law, however, the term is clearly defined. From a criminal law perspective, a gang is an organised, hierarchically structured group of people intent on committing offences on an ongoing basis.”

READ ALSO: Which crimes are on the rise in Austria?

According to the police, they are dealing with “groups that come together spontaneously” and are not “hierarchically organised.” These groups mostly commit “thefts or minor robberies” but are not criminal organisations.

So, technically, Vienna does not have a “youth gang” problem, but it does have an increase in young people in groups committing crimes – though the police didn’t share official numbers.

A recent Kurier report stated that the number of crimes committed by young people and children under the age of 14 has doubled in the last ten years.

At the same time, there has only been a slight increase among young people over the age of 14 and even a decrease among young adults. The main crimes committed by young people and adolescents are theft, damage to property, assault, burglary and dangerous threats.

Christian Holzhacker, Head of Education at the Association of Viennese Youth Centers, told Der Standard that it is important not to “stigmatise” an age group and that the word gang is often used in an “inflationary way”. He points out that in relation to the size of the Viennese population, the number of minors committing crimes is small, even if it is increasing.

He also highlighted that stigmatising regions or groups of young people who get together in public spaces is not the answer. “If you want to fight crime, you have to look at the realities of the lives of the people who have committed crimes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

What are the police doing about the crime?

Austria’s federal criminal police office has gathered a new special task force to combat youth crime (EJK). According to the Ministry of the Interior, the idea is to recognise the new phenomenon and combat youth gangs in Austria.

The task force is set to carry out checks in public spaces, particularly in urban areas and “potential hotspots”, Kurier reported.

The task force also set up a “panel of experts” to suggest how parents can be more responsible, how children’s use of social media and cell phones can be improved, and how the asylum system can better accommodate young migrants.

However, Dieter Csefan, head of the task force, told Die Presse that most young offenders were born in Austria.

“There are unaccompanied minors, but the young people we meet in the groups and gangs usually have parents. And the prolific offenders often come from a normal home. They can also be native Austrians. So it’s not always just Afghans or Syrians”, he said.

He also mentioned that “lowering the age of criminal responsibility is one suggestion” to fight crime. Currently, the age is set at 18, but there are discussions and proposals to lower it to twelve. However, “that alone is not necessarily enough”, he added.

READ NEXT: Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?

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