ruth901
Two friends wanted to have a relaxing evening of hunting. But one shot went completely wrong. And that's not the only reason why both ended up in the dock at the Gelnhausen district court.
Gelnhausen – The two gentlemen from the old district of Schlüchtern (58 and 46 years old) had to answer before the district court for serious game poaching, and the younger man also had to answer for a violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
At the time, the older man had a hunting lease in an area in the Altkreis with a third person, a 60-year-old from the region. However, the 58-year-old hunted that night with his 46-year-old friend, who also has a hunting license.
Men charged with poaching: horse dies after being shot
The 58-year-old's lawyer described this as an “accompanying hunting guest”. He had been there several times in the area, which the co-tenant also knew. Therefore, special permission was not necessary. With this in mind, the defense attorney rejected the accusation of poaching.
The younger defendant's lawyer argued the same thing. However, he acknowledged his client's missed shot. According to his own description, he had previously located at least three wild boar using a thermal imaging camera. He then fired two shots with his rifle in that direction. He then went to the spot where he had previously seen the wild boars to see the result of his shot. In fact, he found neither a killed animal nor any traces of any kind of injury at the site.
With this unsatisfactory result, both friends headed home. However, the 58-year-old returned with his hunting dog early the next morning to properly continue the search for clues. This time too he didn't find any wild boar that had been killed. But he noticed a horse in a nearby paddock that was apparently limping.
A later investigation revealed that the hunter had accidentally hit this four-legged friend with his nighttime shot. His defense attorney described this as an “accident” that “unfortunately happened.” His client missed the wild boars and negligently hit the horse. There is no intent. The horse later had to be euthanized due to its serious injury.
The public prosecutor refuses to drop the case
The defendant described how “extremely embarrassing” the incident was for him. He also immediately contacted the owner and offered to buy a new horse on his account, which she refused.
The second tenant of the area, the 60-year-old, denied as a witness that he had given his colleague permission for a hunting guest. On the contrary: he explicitly forbade him to take the 46-year-old with him to the station. He has “a certain aversion” to it. In the past, when the two friends were hunting together, he received complaints from residents that shots were supposedly flying very close to the houses. The 60-year-old had no understanding whatsoever for the missed shot at the horse. You have to be “blind” if you don’t see it.
Numerous other witnesses were called into the matter. But before they were heard, Judge Wolfgang Ott suggested a break in the meeting and a legal discussion between those involved behind closed doors.
He then explained that the planned dismissal of the two criminal proceedings had been rejected by the Hanau public prosecutor's office. He therefore broke off the negotiation. At another meeting he wants to call and hear more witnesses. (ls)
But poaching is not the only unusual case currently dealing with the Gelnhausen district court: Two former judicial employees have to answer there because of allegations of violating official secrecy.
