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Most expensive 'A-hole' costs man €60,000
Published: 23 Aug 12 16:34 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120823-44543.html
A Hamburg man has been fined €60,000 for calling someone an Arschloch in a fight over a parking space, after he angered the judge by hiding his wealth.
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During the ensuing row, Ernst-Gernot M. dropped the "A" bomb - as confirmed by a female witness, who testified in the eight-day court case.
State prosecutors had demanded a fine of €80,000, while the defending lawyer argued, "My client is an elderly gentleman who always maintains his composure. If he did say the word 'arsehole,' then he would have done it so quietly that no-one could have heard it."
Though the incident itself did not take long to unravel, the court case got bogged down because the defendant failed to provide credible evidence of his financial situation.
He described himself as a "poor man," who lived on €1,400 a month that his family gave him. But the 68-year-old was actually a property dealer who had been mentioned in the local newspaper a few years ago as owner of a high-rise block.
This forced the court to investigate his fortune, and found that he lived in a 171 square metre flat, and paid €2,000 a month on his car lease alone. The court also found that he withdrew around €10,000 a month from his bank, on the basis of which it estimated his monthly income at €60,000.
The fine, of 30 days’ income, was calculated at €60,000.
"It was probably Hamburg's most expensive insult ever," the judge said – and banned the man from driving for a month too, for good measure.
The Local/bk
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Your comments about this article:
The fine should have been established regardless of his income.
Yes, that is just and fair.
Offending is not civilized and should not be tolerated - so it is good that these things go to court.
And when in court, it is good that penalties resemble the offenders financial status - hence German penalties are mainly based on "daily incomes".
So a 10-day-penalty for a millionaire is a bit more than a 10-day-penalty for a poor pensioner granny - but they both got the same penalty.
Otherwise, a dentist or legal could pay fines from the tipping-expenses whilst a poor man would have to starve for a 100-$-fine.
This way, it is 1/3 of a monthly income (10 days out of 30) for each of them, no matter whether rich or poor. That is JUSTice...
And be sure: This rich guy who had tried to cheat the court will not do so again!
TheWonderer
Sometimes I f**** hate this country !!!
PS @ Wonderer - you clearly do not drive a car or you wouldn't make such a stupid remark...
Logical solution...
It was the guy that did the nicking that dropped the arschloch on the guy waiting for the park spot. Then promptly proved he was the arschloch all along.
@yourkeau
I'd love to watch you stack everything you own on a bicycle the next time you move house. But then again. I imagine that you would make an exception for yourself in your hate of all road going internal combustion machines should they suddenly become convenient for you. Those pesky roads are rather useful should you need an ambulance or fire truck dispatched to you. We wouldn't even have the extensive rail network without roads and petrol powered machines that built them.