The man seemed inhibited. He sat on the dock like a heap of misery and was probably not able to account for his actions to himself. On tuesday, he had to answer for fraud before the local court.
It is not always the case that the defendants in hall 14 are as calm as the 30-year-old from the eastern district. The man did not even try to justify himself or to explain his failures of the summer of 2018, which were accused of being intentional: in order to get money, he had offered things for sale via an internet platform, for which he collected the money, but without following up with a delivery. In this way, he had received about 55 euros for a laptop and almost 42 euros for car headlights.
The man struggled with explanations of why and how when he was asked by judge alexander zenefels to make a statement on the charges brought by prosecutor matthias jakob. He began sentences, which often remained half-sentences, and looked motionless before him. He confessed: "I have set both articles and have then due to… Lived in a phase when I did not empty the mailbox."
For months, he had been avoiding the warnings about the photos that began to pile up in his mailbox in july 2018. The 30-year-old seemed embarrassed to admit this, and affirmed that it was "not deliberate" what has happened. "I was simply overwhelmed, was the conclusion of the defendant.
A striking past
Judge zenefels’ question whether he had intended to send the items at some point, the man nodded in the affirmative. Moreover, he presented a document that spoke of his having been sent to the 18. Marz initiated reclassifications. But that happened too late, because he had already known about the upcoming procedure a few days earlier. And for all the perplexity, actual or apparent, it also emerged that the incidents in the summer of 2018 were not unique: complaints had already been received twice before about the man, and they had been followed by allegations of fraud.
"It was always about similar things. The goods were paid for and then nothing was sent", zenefels reported on the defendant’s past life and called a female police officer to the witness stand. The 46-year-old woman remembered very well that a complaint had been filed against the man in wuppertal, and the reading of a witness statement confirmed that the defendant had never responded to any reports.
The prosecutor jakob considered the previous convictions of the accused to be aggravating and emphasized that there was a "high jerk speed" give. "In the end, they can think of nothing but committing such acts again", said jakob. He demanded "as a last warning a six-month prison sentence for preservation. Zenefels’ verdict should be one month milder – but also a final warning.