Dortmund
13-year-old is said to have stabbed a homeless person – new debate about children’s criminal responsibility
In the port of Dortmund, the criminal police are securing evidence in a crime scene protection tent
© Wickern / DPA
The violent death of a homeless man in Dortmund is shocking. Because the alleged perpetrator is only 13 years old, he cannot be prosecuted. Interior Minister Reul is encouraging a new discussion on criminal responsibility.
After the violent death of a homeless man in Dortmund, the… Public prosecutor’s office continues with the background. A 13-year-old boy is said to have stabbed the man at the Dortmund harbor (the star reported). After the crime on Thursday evening, the police arrested another 13-year-old child and two teenagers aged 14 and 15. “We are checking whether we can prove that the young people have engaged in criminally relevant behavior,” said a spokesman for the Dortmund public prosecutor’s office on Saturday. According to current knowledge, they were not involved in the actual crime.
The public prosecutor’s office announced on Friday that a cell phone video showed the 13-year-old stabbing the man with a knife. Before the crime there was said to have been a verbal argument between the boy and the 31-year-old victim.
NRW Interior Minister comments on the case in Dortmund
All suspects were released from police custody after their hearings. The two 13-year-olds were handed over to their parents. The public prosecutor’s office has no influence on what happens to the alleged perpetrator, said the spokesman. The youth welfare office was called in. A spokeswoman for the city of Dortmund was unable to say at the weekend whether the youth welfare office has already taken action and what steps are now planned.
According to North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), in view of violent acts committed by children, earlier criminal responsibility should also be discussed. “It was always clear to me: children and young people have to be treated differently,” said Reul to “Bild am Sonntag”. “The only question is whether 14-year-olds today are still the 14-year-olds we had back then. If I see more and more attacks being planned by people who are 14, 15 or 13, if we now have cases again where 13 -year-olds stab others with a knife, something went wrong,” said Reul.
“We also have to have instruments to deal with it. I don’t have a solution, I’m also not sure whether criminal responsibility is the only problem. But it is an issue,” he said.