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CRIME

‘Pizza Hut murder’ trial begins in Cologne

A trial began on Tuesday against a man who allegedly stabbed to death a Pizza Hut worker in Cologne in a dispute about his pizza.

Published: 21 July 2015 16:46 CEST
‘Pizza Hut murder’ trial begins in Cologne
A photo of the Pizza Hut in Cologne Central Station. Photo: Toni S. / Wikimedia Commons.

A 27-year-old man identified by local newspaper Köln Stadt-Anzeiger as Mario F. was reportedly going to catch a train in November last year to see his new girlfriend when he stopped off at a Pizza Hut at the Cologne Central Train Station.

Mario F. ordered a pepperoni pizza but when his order arrived, he saw that it had far too much cheese for his taste.

He started to complain loudly and employee Marco H. stepped in to ask him to leave.

When the customer would not comply, the Pizza Hut employee tossed his hand luggage out the door.

The confrontation then escalated into a fight, reportedly culminating in customer Mario F. suddenly pulling out a knife and stabbing Marco H. in the chest. The Pizza Hut worker bled to death at the scene.

The court must review a psychiatric evaluation of Mario F. at the beginning of the trial. The accused reportedly had been drinking alcohol before the incident. Mario F. reports that he has gaps in his memory about the events due to drinking alcohol.

 

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CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

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