Lawyer stalks ex-partner for months – three months suspended sentence and €3,000 compensation
A 63-year-old lawyer was convicted of stalking her ex-partner, a criminal investigator. The district court imposed a three-month suspended sentence and ordered her to pay €3,000 in compensation.
Criminal investigator seriously falls ill due to ex-partner's harassment – court convicts lawyer
Jochen L. (name changed) now works only in desk duties. The 50-year-old criminal investigator suffers from depression, chronic insomnia, bilateral tinnitus, high blood pressure, stomach pain and a peripheral nervous system disorder that considerably impairs his mobility. In the court's view, doctors attribute these health damages to months of stalking by his former partner.
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the 63-year-old lawyer Beate B. had to answer for this before the Munich district court. She appeared without a lawyer and asked for a state-appointed defence counsel at the beginning of the hearing, as she received basic unemployment benefits and could not afford legal representation. The presiding judge rejected this: there was no apparent need for a state-appointed defence in this case.
Phone calls, emails and letters at the police station
Beate B. at least partially admitted the prosecution's accusations. From November of the previous year onwards, she had repeatedly called Jochen L. at his office at the criminal police, sent him emails and letters. She left it unclear why she did this. Instead, she told the court about inheritance disputes with siblings, joint holidays that she had financed alone, as well as a temporary subletting arrangement and outstanding debts of the victim – matters that did not interest the court. The judge repeatedly urged Beate B. to report "in a structured manner". The admonitions had no effect.
In his testimony, Jochen L. described how the defendant – whom he had met in 2015 – had lastly demanded to be available to her "around the clock". This had led to tension with his superiors. "At some point it simply became a burden", he explained. He had ultimately refused contact and filed a criminal complaint against Beate B. – initially without success.
Prosecution and verdict
In her closing statement, the prosecutor declared that the accusations had been "fully" confirmed and called for four months in prison on probation for stalking. In her final word, Beate B. disputed that Jochen L. had become ill because of her.
The court did not share this assessment. It convicted the 63-year-old of a three-month suspended sentence and ordered her to pay €3,000 in compensation. In addition, she was prohibited from any further contact with the criminal investigator.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung