Processes
Attempted murder of a child with mercury – long prison sentences
The two defendants were sentenced to long prison terms by the Hanover Regional Court. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
A father from Springe near Hanover is said to have tried to poison his little daughter together with his girlfriend. Now the verdict has been pronounced.
The two defendants initially denied the accusation of attempted murder. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The verdict can be appealed within a week.
Shortly before the end of the trial, the two defendants admitted that they had jointly injected mercury into the one-year-old girl’s left foot and right ankle on July 24, 2023. According to the prosecution, the man wanted to take revenge on the child’s mother, who had left him shortly after the girl’s birth. The judge said the defendant could not accept the separation.
“The jury is convinced that both defendants believed the death of the child was possible and accepted it with approval,” said court spokesman Sebastian Anderski after the verdict was announced. The chamber sees no evidence that the defendants would have assumed a more favorable outcome with a small child.
Higher sentence than demanded by the public prosecutor
The court verdict against the two defendants was one year higher than what the public prosecutor’s office had demanded. The court spokesman justified this by saying that the attempt by the two defendants was carried out intentionally.
During the approximately 40-minute verdict, the two defendants sat a few meters apart and looked downwards almost the entire time. The man was wearing a white shirt and the defendant was wearing a hooded jacket.
The two defendants planned the crime months in advance. The judge explained in detail how the two were said to have planned the crime; there was talk of numerous messages between the two and previous attempts to buy an old thermometer on the Internet in order to obtain the mercury for the crime.
Mercury can cause serious health problems
According to the Federal Environment Ministry, the heavy metal mercury is highly toxic to people and the environment. High levels of mercury exposure over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems, including disorders of the nervous, immune and reproductive systems.
Earlier in the trial, the co-plaintiff’s lawyer had described the late partial confessions as “tactical” because chat histories would have proven the joint poisoning plan anyway. The 30-year-old had already found out about options for purchasing mercury on the Internet at the beginning of 2023. In January 2023, the couple watched the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY … unsolved”, which discussed a case involving mercury as a murder weapon. In June 2023, the partner privately purchased an old wall thermometer filled with mercury via an internet platform.
Little girl operated on several times as a result of the injections
The consequences for the little girl were devastating. According to the prosecution, she suffered a purulent infection in her foot and a skin rash all over her body after the mercury injection. It was only during the third surgical procedure that the mercury was found by chance. According to the child’s lawyer, long-term consequences include paralysis, speech disorders and cognitive impairments.
The judge spoke of the girl’s numerous visits to the doctor, during which the cause of her complaint was not initially found. As a result of the mercury injections, the child underwent ten operations and is still undergoing physical therapy.