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LIMBURG, Germany: The court of lay assessors in Limburg has sentenced a man to nine months of probation after he attempted to steal two tubes of toothpaste in a supermarket. When caught red-handed by the cashier, the previously multi-convicted, 52-year-old man pushed the woman to the ground resulting in her getting slightly injured.
The attempted theft already occurred in April. As reported by website www.mittelhessen.de, the case was brought to court in August and has now resumed after the defendant filed an appeal. The Appeals Court, however, rejected an abatement of the sentence.
On 15 April, the man entered a supermarket, grabbed a pretzel and immediately took a bite. He then took a double pack of toothpaste from the shelf and hid it in his waistband. When he went to the cashier he only wanted to pay for the pretzel, which is why the cashier asked him to follow her into an office. Subsequently, the man pushed the woman away from him causing her to fall to the ground. The man, who was known in the supermarket because he had once worked there on a temporary basis, fled from the shop. The cashier’s injury was later diagnosed as a sprained wrist.
The accused denied the act in court and said that he had indeed taken the pack of toothpaste, but had put it back when he saw that a special price offer was only valid two days later. “I did not steal anything, had nothing in my pockets or in my waistband,” he protested loudly in court, according to the report on the website. However, the accused did apologise for pushing the cashier and claimed that he did not intend to hurt anyone.
The 52-year-old claimed to suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia, issues that he now wants to address in psychotherapy. According to him, his relationship with his wife, who once stood next to his bed with a knife in her hand, has been marked by violence. He explained in court that when the two employees grabbed him by the arms in the supermarket, he could not tolerate it. “I just ran. It felt as if someone wanted to deprive me of my freedom”, he stated.
The two saleswomen, however, assured the court that they did not touch the man. The court believed the cashiers and justified its decision to not grant the defendant’s appeal by saying that he had applied violence when he was trying to steal. The conditions of his probation include the completion of 200 hours of community service.
