In November, the courts had condemned the six offenders to prison sentences of between four and 18 years. Three of the offenders had received an 18 year prison sentence.
The three incidents occurred in late 2014 and early 2015 respectively. The main victim had been threatened with a weapon and a knife. A friend of the main victim had also been threatened with a knife. Half a year ago, a total of three victims were awarded a total of €15,000 in damages. The offenders took the case to the appeals court in the hopes of reducing their sentences.
Two of the three defendants sentenced to 18 years in prison said on Monday that their punishment was too harsh. Just as during the initial court case, the third man did not attend. A further defendant, sentenced to eight years in prison, claimed that he was innocent whereas the one who was sentenced to seven years prison maintained he no longer wanted that life. Finally, the man who was sentenced to four years in prison claimed there had never been a plan to attack anyone.
On Monday, the three victims talked of the fear they lived through in December 2014 and January 2015. The main victim, who had been abducted twice from his own home, said that the defendants had used a weapon in the first incident and a knife in the second. He said that in December 2014, ten people entered his home and stole €30,000. In January 2015, three individuals entered his home, held a knife to his throat, and stole more of his possessions.
Two days later, a friend of the main victim was attacked by four men and suffered two stab wounds before being held at knife point and pulled into a car. The two main defendants kidnapped the friend in an endeavour to gain more money from the main victim. As the friend told the attackers that the other three defendants had already come for money a couple of days before, one of the main attackers allegedly told his companions that the others were not to be trusted. The friend told the court he then assumed that the original group from December might have spread into two groups by January 2015.
The four attackers kept him in the car as they drove around before throwing him out of the car and leaving. One of the main attackers had then called him at the hospital to threaten him not to press charges. The victim claimed the attacker had offered to bribe him for his silence.
The case continues on Wednesday.
