Apprentice in St. Gallen staged armed robbery on own business – suspended sentence
A 21-year-old was convicted at the St. Gallen District Court of complicity in a staged robbery. He received a suspended sentence of seven months and narrowly escaped deportation.
Apprentice stages robbery on mobile phone shop – judge sees "last chance"
A 21-year-old apprentice was sentenced on Monday at the St. Gallen District Court to a suspended prison sentence of seven months. The single judge found him guilty of complicity in a staged armed robbery and the misuse of Paysafe cards. The probationary period is two years. According to 20 Minuten, the defendant must also bear procedural costs of over 11,400 francs.
Planned robbery in summer 2024
The starting point of the proceedings was an incident in summer 2024. The then 19-year-old worked in a mobile phone shop and arranged with a friend to stage a robbery of the business. The friend entered the shop and stole more than 3,500 francs. Immediately afterwards, the apprentice reported the planned incident to the emergency service as a genuine robbery. That same evening the two met and divided the spoils. In court, the defendant stated that he had received only around 200 francs himself; his mate, who had had money problems, had been the driving force.
Paysafe cards gambled away in online casinos
The apprentice also appeared to have financial difficulties. During his training, he repeatedly loaded Paysafe cards with credit without paying for them. This caused his employer a total loss of 6,080 francs. According to his own account, he used the money mainly in online casinos. He said he had been addicted to gambling at the time and had hoped to repay the withdrawn amounts with winnings. He had not gambled for two years, he told the court.
Dispute over offence category – deportation averted
The defence requested a conviction for multiple embezzlement in the Paysafe matter rather than for commercially fraudulent misuse of a data processing system – a difference with consequences: the latter counts as a catalogue offence that can automatically trigger deportation. The public prosecutor had demanded a five-year deportation order.
The defendant stated that expulsion would cause his world to collapse. He had grown up in Switzerland, spoke German as his native language and had little connection to his parents' country of origin. He could understand Arabic but could neither read nor write it. His closest family lives in Switzerland.
The judge followed the defence and recognised a hardship case. The young man had spent most of his life in Switzerland, was well integrated, lived with his family and was in training. Moreover, these were offences against property, not crimes against bodily integrity and life. The prognosis was positive.
Confession and remorse considered mitigating factors
The court considered the confession, demonstrated remorse, the lengthy duration of the proceedings, and the fact that approximately 2,000 francs had already been repaid as mitigating factors. In his closing statement, the defendant apologised and promised that such an incident would not happen again.
However, the judge made it unmistakably clear to him that this was his "last chance". If he reoffends during the two-year probationary period, prison and deportation await him, which would then be almost impossible to avert.
Source: 20 Minuten