The area around the sports park in Hüttenbrennergasse in Graz is known as a social hotspot and dangerous incidents occur again and again. In February, a gang of young people attacked hall warden Christian R. because they were expelled from the sports park. The 55-year-old was seriously injured. Here he tells us how he is doing today.
Christian R. (55) is a hall attendant at the Graz sports park. However, he has been through hell in the past few weeks. The ringleader of a gang of young people with a migrant background who is always up to mischief in Hüttenbrennergasse and causes police operations, gave him a headbutt so powerful that his nose broke three times. How did that happen? “We’ve noticed the boys for a long time because they always caused a stir. That’s why they were banned from the halls.” But that didn’t matter to them. In February the situation escalated: They wanted to watch a basketball game. But the players themselves refused to allow the group entry due to various incidents. They didn’t want to let that go and tried their luck with hall warden Christian R., who was sitting in his room in the sports park at the time, which is secured by a glass front with a speaking function . “One guy said he didn’t understand me, I should come out. “What I did,” says the 55-year-old. Then he explained to them again that they had no business being in the hall and looked towards the exit. Attackers ran away. “As soon as I turned my head back, one of them gave me a hard headbutt in the face. Witnesses helped me straight away and the police came too.” The attackers ran away. After he was taken to the hospital, it was clear that his nose had been broken three times and that a nerve had also been damaged, which had changed his facial features. “It is not yet certain whether this will happen again,” says Christian R. In any case, an operation was unavoidable. “In addition, I have to wear a mask with an alarm function due to my life-threatening pauses in breathing at night. This was not possible for four weeks after the operation. That was really intense.”Christian R. is now working again. The boys who did this to him were identified, but the investigation is still ongoing, as police spokesman Fritz Grundnig confirmed in response to a “Krone” request. There is a fear that they cannot be prosecuted because of their young age: “One of the five suspects is 14 years old, the others are under 14,” says Grundnig – and therefore they would be of legal age.
source site-12