North Rhine-Westphalia: Deadly knife attack: 17-year-old acquitted

Cologne (dpa/lnw) - In the trial after a fatal knife attack in front of a club on Halloween night 2021, a 17-year-old defendant was acquitted by the Cologne Regional Court.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Deadly knife attack: 17-year-old acquitted

Cologne (dpa/lnw) - In the trial after a fatal knife attack in front of a club on Halloween night 2021, a 17-year-old defendant was acquitted by the Cologne Regional Court. The court decided after nine days of negotiations. The teenager was charged with manslaughter because he is said to have stabbed a 25-year-old in an argument.

Because of the young age of the accused, the trial, which ended on Monday, was completely closed to the public. Information on the reasoning behind the judgment could therefore not be given, said a court spokeswoman on Tuesday. The young man has already been released from prison.

Even before the fatal stabbing by the 17-year-old, who turned himself in to the police after the crime, there were said to have been arguments between the two young men in the club. The dispute is said to have escalated in front of the club between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. The 17-year-old is said to have pulled out a one-handed knife and stabbed the 25-year-old in the heart.

In another case in Cologne at the beginning of April, a 17-year-old was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for manslaughter. The man fatally injured an 18-year-old with a knife during a dispute last summer. Partly as a reaction to this incident, no-arms zones were set up in two of Cologne's nightlife areas last December.