Hooligan in court for brawl

It happened on a Saturday evening in March 2021 shortly before 8 p.m. in the cross hall of Zurich main station in the area of ​​the escalators to the Landesmuseum hall: A 53-year-old passer-by walked past a 24-year-old Swiss FCZ hooligan when he came out of nowhere reached to the head.

The passer-by stopped for a moment, the perpetrator suddenly and without warning hit him in the head with his fist. The victim fell to the asphalt but got back up. The perpetrator punched him in the face again, causing him to fall to the ground again. While the 53-year-old was lying there dazed, the 24-year-old kicked him violently in the head “with a sweeping foot”.

There is video footage of the scene from surveillance cameras from different angles. As the presiding judge at the Zurich District Court trial stated, there was no provocation, no event preceding the attack. The 24-year-old suspect simply struck down a 53-year-old “slender, elderly gentleman” whom he did not know out of nowhere. The victim showed no reaction and did not even fight back.

An observer who intervened verbally shouted at the accused to shut up. He only stopped when he was pulled away from the victim. The FCZ fan was arrested and was detained for two days. From the start he admitted everything and showed remorse. His defense attorney was therefore able to negotiate an abbreviated procedure with the public prosecutor.

The victim had to be hospitalized as an emergency, was lucky, suffered only superficial head injuries, contusions on the knee and wrist and was 100 percent unable to work for one week and 50 percent for three and a half months. It did not sustain any brain injuries or fractures. The charge in this regard is attempted grievous bodily harm.

The perpetrator has no explanation

The presiding judge asks the accused several times why he “beat up” the passer-by; the perpetrator himself had used this word for it. The victim was obviously simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and did not contribute to the crime at all. – “I can no longer explain it today,” the 24-year-old replies. The deed is terrible, he is very sorry and he will pay for the costs.

“What did the man do to you?” the judge wants to know – “nüd” is the answer. The accused points out that he had 2.3 per mille alcohol in his blood at the time. At that time he was regularly drunk and used cocaine. The perpetrator had drunk two whole bottles of vodka before the crime. He and colleagues started drinking around 5 p.m. in a park, he says.

The 24-year-old has four previous convictions, several times for violence and threats against authorities and officials, but also for a jackknife, which falls under the gun law, and for a road traffic offence. He is professionally integrated, has completed an apprenticeship as a craftsman and has a permanent job with a monthly salary of CHF 5,300. In court, he explains that he has completely changed his life since the crime.

He has had a girlfriend since April 2021. He has separated from his old circle of colleagues, no longer drinks alcohol and has also stopped using cocaine. He no longer attends FCZ games anyway because he is banned from the stadium. Once this is lifted, he promises that he will no longer go to the southern stand, but only to the family sector with his girlfriend. A second charge concerns the firing of two pyros in the south stand during the October 2021 derby between the two city clubs, which counts as an offense under the Explosives Act.

More than 10,000 francs in costs and a fine

The proposed verdict is a prison sentence of 30 months for the attempted serious bodily harm and a fine of 50 daily rates of 50 francs each for firing the pyros. The accused must serve 12 months of this, 18 months are conditionally postponed in the case of an extended probationary period of three years. The 24-year-old must pay the 2,500 franc fine, as well as 7,700 francs in fees and expenses for the investigation. He recognized the civil claim of the injured party in principle.

For the presiding judge, the key point of the judgment is that the accused is instructed to abstain from alcohol during the probationary period and to have this checked. Because the accused becomes aggressive when he is drunk. This one promises. That’s no problem for him. He can live well without alcohol.

“What are you doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” the judge wants to know again. – He no longer has any contact with his colleagues, no longer takes drugs or alcohol and spends his free time only with his girlfriend and family, the accused repeats.

The District Court approves the proposed judgment. The presiding judge speaks to the accused but once again in the conscience. The instruction is checked, and if something happens again, he has to serve the rest. The act was incomprehensible, unbelievable and life-threatening. But his “straightforward confession” speaks for the convict. The accused can serve the 12 months in semi-captivity.

DH 220041 of June 29, 2022, abbreviated procedure.