Law and order
A homeless person is burned – an acquaintance is punished
A homeless man sets his friend on fire, nearly killing him. Now the man is going to jail. However, this problem seems to have long been resolved between the perpetrator and the victim.
A 33-year-old man has been sent to prison for six years and nine months because he set another homeless man on fire while he was sleeping and almost killed him. A Bonn jury convicted the Lithuanian, among other things, of attempted murder. But there were also touching scenes in the courtroom.
The defendant, who was also homeless at the time, admitted to setting fire to his 42-year-old friend on the night of February 18, 2025, while he was sleeping in his sleeping bag in the front room of a savings bank.
They previously collected bottles together, bought drinks with the money, divided them and consumed them together. At the time of the crime, the 33-year-old man had 2.5 per mile of alcohol in his blood.
The camera records everything
The bank’s surveillance cameras recorded the entire crime. The video shows how the 33-year-old man lights a piece of cloth or paper with a lighter and throws the burning material towards his sleeping friend. The fire quickly spread to the 42-year-old man’s bedding.
“What I do is a mystery to myself,” he said. He was very sorry because the 42 year old man did not do anything to him.
Homeless street musicians rescue victims
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According to the judge, the man would have “burned completely” if another homeless man who earned his living as a street busker had not rescued him. Even with a blood alcohol level of 3.8 per mile, the man realized the dangerous situation, woke the sleeping man, and suffered severe burns himself. The court personally thanked the musician for his brave efforts.
The 42-year-old victim said he had been “off the streets” since the arson attack. He does not blame his 33-year-old friend for the crime. In the courtroom he said goodbye to her with the words: “Mach et joot.”
dpa
