North Rhine-Westphalia: Trial over knife attacks on social workers

North Rhine-Westphalia
Trial over knife attacks on social workers

24.09.2024, 03:38

They dedicated their labor to helping the homeless. Then they became victims of knife attacks, allegedly by a “regular customer”. Now the trial of a 40-year-old man is beginning.

Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – Following the life-threatening knife attacks on two employees of the homeless assistance service in Düsseldorf, the trial against a 40-year-old begins on Tuesday (1 p.m.). He is accused of two cases of attempted murder.

On June 17, the man is said to have attacked the two women with a knife and seriously injured them. The 63-year-old director of the facility and a 61-year-old kitchen assistant were critically injured in the attacks.

According to the prosecution, the 40-year-old wanted to complain about something at the Diakonie facility. When the head of the day care center asked him to be patient, he allegedly stabbed her. Afterwards, according to the prosecution, he went to the homeless shelter café and stabbed the 61-year-old in the neck with the words “We still have a score to settle.”

The crime scene is right next to the Düsseldorf police headquarters. The German was arrested nearby and is said to have said: “I stabbed a woman in the neck.” He is also said to have stressed during his arrest that he was neither under the influence of alcohol nor drugs. A blood alcohol test showed that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.1 per mille.

The 40-year-old was a resident of the facility and was one of the homeless. He is said to have committed violent acts before. Seven days of hearings are planned for the trial, which runs until November 21.