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Zurich cops become midwives in dramatic mid-road birth

Two policewomen in the city of Zurich had an unforgettable start to the week when they were summoned to deliver a baby in a car in district six.

Published: 20 March 2018 08:15 CET
Zurich cops become midwives in dramatic mid-road birth
stock image/Depositphotos

The auxiliary officers were responding to a call-out early on Monday morning and had stopped at a traffic light at a road junction when they noticed the car stationary in the middle of the two lanes.

The driver jumped out and shouted to them that his wife had gone into labour.

The officers ran to help and were just in the nick of time: the baby’s head was already visible.

The next minute the baby “slipped out” completely, according to a police news release.

Luckily one of the policewomen was able to catch the baby girl who soon began to exercise her lungs.

The second officer wrapped the baby in her pullover and got into the car next to the mother while her colleague tried to calm down the woman’s husband.

Help arrived soon afterwards and the baby and her parents were soon transported to hospital, where the little girl was said to be doing well.

One of the two officers, 55-year-old Sandra Häusermann, told the Blick newspaper it was the nicest thing she had experienced in 33 years in the force.

“I can’t find words for my feelings,” she was quoted as saying.

 

CRIME

Switzerland jails 84-year-old bank robber

Swiss authorities have sent an 84-year-old bank robber to prison. The man, who robbed the same bank twice, had hoped his age would see him avoid sentencing.

Published: 6 July 2022 15:28 CEST
Switzerland jails 84-year-old bank robber

A court in the Swiss canton of Lucerne has jailed an 84-year-old man for two years and four months for two bank robberies stretching back across the past decade. 

The man, named in Swiss media as Willi P, has been given a partially suspended sentence and will only need to serve six months. 

The man robbed a bank in Meggen in 2012 and in 2017, stealing around CHF13,000 in total. 

He threatened the bank’s employees with a folding pocket knife placed inside a plastic bag to look like a gun. 

The man avoided jail in 2021 when the case was brought to court, with the judges saying he was too old. 

This time, the cantonal court disagreed. 

“According to the case law of the federal court, even a relatively old age does not in principle justify a particular sensitivity to punishment, which must be taken into account to reduce the sentence,” the court said. 

READ MORE: Why do foreigners ‘commit more violent crimes’ than the Swiss?

Willi P was remorseful, telling the media he was “heartbroken” by what he had done, telling the press his wife had no idea about the robberies. 

“I’m really sorry for everything and felt heartbroken. Afterwards I said to myself: Hey, you are stupid! Why do you still have to do something like this at this age?”

The man pleaded with the court not to sentence him, saying “I’ve been punished enough with my poor health. I am sorry.”

While the court noted that due to the man’s advanced age he may die in jail, this was not enough of an exceptional circumstance to prevent the sentence. 

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