The trial of the death of a young bargeman from Bavaria began in Düsseldorf with a confession. A homeless man admitted on Thursday that he had killed the 23-year-old from Lower Franconia with a cast-iron bollard. "He deeply regrets the act and knows that he can't undo anything. He can only apologize and ask the family for forgiveness," said his defense attorney at the district court.

The fatal blows were preceded by an argument in which the later victim insulted his client several times and dubbed him an "asshole". The defendant, who is now 56 years old, explained through his defense attorney that he could no longer remember the exact course of the crime.

A police officer testified as a witness that after his arrest immediately after the crime on June 11, the accused said: "I felt the need to kill." According to the indictment, the homeless person felt disturbed by the bargeman at his sleeping place in Düsseldorf's old town.

The parents of the deceased take part in the process as joint plaintiffs. The mother burst into tears over and over again as she described the crime and the testimonies of eyewitnesses. Her husband sat next to her with a petrified expression.

The public prosecutor accuses the 56-year-old of manslaughter. Again and again last June, the homeless man is said to have hit the head of the 23-year-old, who was already lying on the ground, with a 14-kilogram cast-iron bollard.

The 23-year-old victim comes from Karbach in the Main-Spessart district in Lower Franconia. As a crew member of an inland waterway vessel, he was on shore leave. The court scheduled five days of hearings for the trial.

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