The appeal process did not bring about any significant improvement for rocker boss Frank Hanebuth: In the proceedings surrounding a beaten workshop owner, the 58-year-old and four other men were sentenced to four-digit fines - as in the first instance.
The judgment of the Hanover Regional Court was due to dangerous bodily harm in a less serious case or as an aid to it, as judge Karin Goldmann said on Thursday. It was important to the men to "massively intimidate" their victim, it was a "demonstration of power". The background to the decision are videos of the crime. According to the indictment, the convicts belong to the Hells Angels rock group.
The court fined a 48-year-old man who hit the victim €3,600. Hanebuth has to pay 4,800 euros - in his case, a final conviction for violating the Weapons Act was added after the appeal against it was withdrawn. The remaining men between the ages of 37 and 49 have to pay fines of between 1800 and 4500 euros. The prosecutor had demanded suspended sentences for three men and fines for the other two, including Hanebuth. The defense attorneys demanded acquittals, their clients had shown no willingness to use violence except for the 48-year-old.
dispute about money
According to the court, Hanebuth was involved with the other men when the mechanic was hit. The rocker boss and the other convicts appeared in April 2018 with the workshop owner. It is said to have been about a dispute about money, but the victim also spoke of a "conflict" about his ex-partner. However, the man largely refused to testify. Goldmann explained that the victim had no interest in prosecuting the crime - "for whatever reason".
In the first instance, the district court in Hanover also imposed four-digit fines in August 2020. The renewed conviction to fines is not about "making an example of any group," emphasized Goldmann. The defense attorneys announced that they wanted to "let the verdict sink in" for the time being. The convicted men waived their last word and joined their lawyers. Hanebuth did so with the words: "I'm speechless."
