Compared to the entire building, the damage was actually not major. But Section 305 of the Criminal Code on the “destruction of structures” expressly states that the structure in question may have been “wholly or partially destroyed” in order to impose or receive a prison sentence of up to five years. A 30 by 30 centimeter hole in a house wall in Bad Reichenhall was now enough for seven months in prison. That’s about twice as long as it took the condemned man to make the hole in the fall. But he only had a spoon and a toilet roll holder. And he was already in prison then. He scratched the hole in the outer wall of the Bad Reichenhall correctional facility in order to then abseil down to freedom from the first floor using knotted bedsheets.
Such an escape may seem a little too trite even to nostalgic film fans. For the time being, however, the justice system was left with the damage. She estimated it at around 1,500 euros, because the hole was quickly bricked up and re-plastered. But the consequential damage is likely to be far greater. Since then, the two outermost cells have no longer been used as such, and living space is a scarce and expensive commodity, especially in prisons.
In addition, there was suddenly a hole measuring approximately 30 by 30 centimeters in the high-security image of the Free State prison system. The judiciary did not have to worry about the ridicule – especially since the escapee was arrested again the next day at his family in Traunstein. The 29-year-old has now testified before the district court in Laufen that he wanted to visit his little daughter there.
Since then he has spent his pre-trial detention in Munich-Stadelheim. But that could soon change too. The man is currently standing before the Traunstein regional court for serious gang theft, property damage and disturbing the peace of the dead. This has already given him the prospect of a good six years in prison if it becomes convinced that he and two accomplices had really cracked offering boxes in churches and stolen metal grave crosses and grave decorations from several cemeteries in Chiemgau and wanted to sell them as scrap metal. The seven months for the partial destruction of the Reichenhall prison could then be included in the sentence. In any case, the outbreak will go unpunished. Because everyone can seek their freedom as long as they don’t hurt anyone and don’t break anything. No prison either.