Cyclist hit with €900 fine for 'lesbo cop' insult
A court in Cologne has ordered an unemployed fork lift operator to pay a €900 fine for insulting a police officer. The man was stopped for using a cellphone while riding a bike and let loose a stream of profanities at the officer.
The 35-year-old man was stopped by a police officer in May with a cigarette in the left hand and cell phone in the right, while riding a bike. He immediately threw the cigarette on the ground, prompting the officer to issue him two fines, one for littering and one for using a cell phone on a bike, reported the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger.
The officer then proceeded to check the bike's frame number, a routine measure to ensure the bicycle has not been registered as stolen.
The man then flipped out and began insulting the officer, calling her a 'lesbo cop' who 'needed a slap.'
The man's attorney Sebastian Schölzel told the court his client was "humiliated" when the officer told him to pick up the filter-less cigarette he had thrown on the ground, calling the officer's behaviour a "power play."
The public prosecutor had sought a three-month jail term because the defendant had
22 previous convictions and his remarks were "grossly defamatory." However, the judge was lenient because the man had essentially confessed and apologized to the police officer.
The €900 fine is equivalent to the man's monthly salary as a forklift operator before he became unemployed.
The Local/sh
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The 35-year-old man was stopped by a police officer in May with a cigarette in the left hand and cell phone in the right, while riding a bike. He immediately threw the cigarette on the ground, prompting the officer to issue him two fines, one for littering and one for using a cell phone on a bike, reported the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger.
The officer then proceeded to check the bike's frame number, a routine measure to ensure the bicycle has not been registered as stolen.
The man then flipped out and began insulting the officer, calling her a 'lesbo cop' who 'needed a slap.'
The man's attorney Sebastian Schölzel told the court his client was "humiliated" when the officer told him to pick up the filter-less cigarette he had thrown on the ground, calling the officer's behaviour a "power play."
The public prosecutor had sought a three-month jail term because the defendant had
22 previous convictions and his remarks were "grossly defamatory." However, the judge was lenient because the man had essentially confessed and apologized to the police officer.
The €900 fine is equivalent to the man's monthly salary as a forklift operator before he became unemployed.
The Local/sh
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