Luxury hotel destruction in Zurich: 34-year-old sentenced to suspended fine
A man destroyed two Zurich luxury hotels in 2024, causing 167,000 francs of damage. The district court sentenced him to a suspended fine.
Zurich district court sentences man following destruction at "Baur au Lac" and Hotel Storchen
According to Google News CH — Crime (de), Zurich district court has sentenced a 34-year-old man to a suspended fine for the destruction of two luxury hotel rooms. The incident occurred in October 2024 at the hotels "Baur au Lac" and Storchen in district 1.
"The voices told me I should destroy everything," the defendant explained on Tuesday in court. According to Watson, he first heard voices at the "Baur au Lac" after feeling pursued by the television and his tablet. He then moved to Hotel Storchen, where he continued the destruction.
The total damage in both rooms amounted to approximately 167,000 francs. The man destroyed televisions, paintings, mirrors and lamps, threw objects around the rooms and scratched wallpaper. Both hotels had to close the affected rooms for weeks, renovate and clean up — and earned no revenue from them during this time.
The defendant and his defence raised psychosis as an explanation in court. The destructive episode was the first sign of this condition, triggered also by excessive cocaine use at the time of the offence. Shortly after leaving Hotel Storchen, the man admitted himself to a psychiatric clinic, where the psychosis was diagnosed.
The defendant himself could no longer explain why he moved to a second hotel after his stay at the "Baur au Lac" and destroyed everything there once again.
The defence counsel pleaded for acquittal due to his client's mental state, or at least reduced culpability. The public prosecutor and the two hotels, by contrast, demanded a suspended custodial sentence of eleven months and a fine of 500 francs — and also wanted to claim damages.
The court sided with the defence: it sentenced the man to a suspended fine of 150 daily rates of 30 francs each and a fine of 200 francs for possession and consumption of cocaine. The hotels must claim damages through civil proceedings.
The convicted man stated in court that he regretted his actions. The verdict is not yet final.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)