A youth gang was held responsible at the Vienna regional court on Tuesday for a host of violent crimes. The eight boys between the ages of 14 and 16 regularly attacked other young people between the end of March and the end of June 2024. They beat their victims and sometimes took valuables from them, with all of the crimes being filmed with smartphones. The defendants then bragged about the videos on TikTok and Instagram.
The charges included nine incidents, which were committed by the boys in different compositions. When the prosecutor summarized the allegations at the beginning of the trial, one or two of the defendants were grinning from ear to ear and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
They beat up one of their victims because they were offended by a dance video he had posted. Another had a baseball cap stolen at Mödling train station. In order to supposedly get it back, the boy was summoned to a meeting point, where he was then beaten up.
Another victim, who had crouched down on the ground and tried to protect his head, was helped by a passer-by who “scared away” the five boys who kicked the defenseless man. Another, whose T-shirt had been torn by the attackers, was enabled by a driver to escape by opening the door of his Tesla and letting the beaten man get in. The older brother and father wanted to come to the aid of one victim – they are said to have been threatened with knives and “stabbed” if they came any closer.
Some of the defendants – either still students or already registered with the AMS as looking for work – confessed. Some, however, claimed that they had just stood by and “didn’t do anything”. “You felt tired. “You did stupid things,” said one of the defense attorneys.
