Objects on SBB track near Wiesendangen: Two perpetrators convicted in Winterthur
A 22-year-old and a 35-year-old stacked scooters, tyres and barrels on a railway track in 2023 – an Interregio with 100 passengers collided with them at 110 km/h. Both have now been convicted.
Court delivers sentences in track sabotage case at Wiesendangen
Two men were found guilty on 3 September 2026 by Winterthur District Court of disrupting public transport with endangerment to life and limb as well as damage to property. According to NZZ, a group consisting of four minors and two then-adult men had stacked objects on SBB tracks at Wiesendangen railway station on two consecutive nights in February 2023 – with grave consequences.
Motorcycle and construction debris on the track
On the night of 18 to 19 February 2023, three of those involved – two minors and the then 31-year-old man – together with a fellow perpetrator who was 18 years old at the time of the offence, hoisted a 97 kilogramme motorcycle onto the tracks. A passenger train collided with the motorcycle at approximately 110 km/h; the entire train had to be evacuated and the track was closed for several hours. During the same night, the suspects also vandalised a nearby construction site and damaged a roller.
The following evening, 19 February, four minors and the 31-year-old broke into a barn at Wiesendangen railway station. They carried scooters, shovels, lorry tyres, plastic barrels and waste bins out of the barn and stacked them on the track. The pile was supplemented with construction barriers and a sign that had been removed from a nearby construction site. According to a defence lawyer, one of the youths, who worked in SBB maintenance, allegedly assured the others several times that a train could not derail because of this.
Shortly before 21:30, the Interregio from Lucerne to Constance collided with the stacked objects at approximately 110 km/h. The locomotive was slightly lifted from the rails and triggered an automatic full braking. Around one hundred passengers had to be evacuated and the track was closed for four hours. No one was injured. According to the charge sheet, the material damage amounts to 141,369 Swiss francs and 15 centimes. One of the female perpetrators filmed the action.
Alcohol, peer pressure and cognitive impairment
The four minor participants were judged by the youth prosecutor in non-public proceedings. Before Winterthur District Court stood the now 35-year-old man and the now 22-year-old fellow perpetrator, who was not present on the second night. Both are Swiss nationals.
During the trial, both defendants made no statements regarding the specific charges against them, stated they could no longer remember properly, and referred to their statements from the investigation phase. Both confessed to the external course of events. They emphasised that they were ashamed of their actions.
The defence lawyers argued that the suspects had not expected passenger trains to pass. The perpetrators were "extremely drunk" on the first night; the then 18-year-old participated because he found it "funny when drunk". Peer pressure also played a role. In the case of the now 35-year-old, his restricted intelligence was highlighted: he has suffered from cognitive impairment since birth, lost his best friend in 2020, subsequently joined a youth group in his residential neighbourhood and began consuming alcohol and drugs. A psychiatric report attests to his easy influence.
Court finds full criminal responsibility
Winterthur District Court found that both defendants possessed full criminal responsibility – despite possible intoxication and the cognitive impairment of the older defendant. "This was anything but a youthful prank and could have ended badly," the presiding judge said in explaining the verdict. Whilst alcohol explained the behaviour, it did not constitute grounds for reduced culpability. In the case of the 35-year-old, the problem was not the alcohol but his immature personality.
The presiding judge emphasised the lack of respect for others' property and described it as utterly incomprehensible that the perpetrators repeated the action a second time after experiencing what happened on the first night.
The sentences
The 22-year-old, who was involved exclusively on the first night, received a suspended prison sentence of 12 months for disrupting public transport with endangerment to life and limb as well as damage to property – less than the 15 months requested by the prosecutor. The lawyer for the 22-year-old had pleaded for a suspended fine of 180 daily rates.
The 35-year-old was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment for multiple offences, in addition to traffic offences. The sentence is suspended in favour of an outpatient measure, as requested by the prosecutor. Both had already served two days in custody on remand each.
The court regarded the confession and the lengthy procedure duration of three and a half years as mitigating factors for both. Both convicted persons were ordered in principle to pay damages; the exact amount will be clarified through civil proceedings.
Sentences DG26007 and DG26008 of 3 September 2026 are not yet final.
Source: NZZ