Suspect in fatal stabbing in Germany should have been in prison, but sentence was not carried out

The reason lies in the legally established rule that the court must, under certain conditions, impose a total sentence if several convictions have occurred that are related to each other. Only then will it be clear how long the convicted person will actually have to go to prison.

The Afghan suspect in the stabbing in Aschaffenburg had been known to the court for some time, for damaging property, assault and insult. He had been sentenced to fines by two different courts. Because he did not pay the first fine, he was sentenced to an alternative prison sentence of forty days on December 23.

But in the meantime, a second punishment with a fine had also become legally binding, meaning that the court in Schweinfurt first had to decide on the total punishment. According to the Public Prosecution Service, this has not yet happened, “among other things due to the required service and translation of documents”, which is why the man was still at large on Wednesday.

Two people were killed and three seriously injured in the stabbing in Aschaffenburg, in northwestern Bavaria. The 28-year-old Afghan was arrested on the spot. He is accused of murder, among other things. The suspect has been temporarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital. An investigation must show whether he was unreasonable.