Driver Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison for Fatal Crash Involving Schoolchildren

A court in Cologne has sentenced a 21-year-old man to four years and six months in prison under juvenile law for a fatal car crash. The driver struck a group of elementary school children and a 25-year-old chaperone in Hürth, near Cologne, in June of the previous year. The collision resulted in the deaths of a 10-year-old girl and the chaperone.

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The degree of negligence you committed was exceptionally high.

The court found the defendant guilty of negligent homicide, bodily harm by negligence, and dangerous interference with road traffic. The presiding judge emphasized the "exceptionally high" degree of negligence demonstrated by the driver. The court also acknowledged the profound suffering inflicted upon the victims' families, siblings, relatives, and classmates, noting that the incident had plunged the small town of Hürth into a "state of shock."

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The suffering caused by your act is also exceptionally high.

Evidence presented during the seven-day trial indicated the defendant consciously drove through a red light, which had been red for four seconds, at speeds up to 57 kilometers per hour. He reportedly looked left, anticipating oncoming traffic, and by the time he looked forward again, the group of schoolchildren was already in the road. A collision was unavoidable. The driver hit the 10-year-old girl and the 25-year-old chaperone head-on, causing severe head injuries from which they died days later. In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a driving ban of two years and eleven months. The parents and siblings of the deceased were awarded a total of 190,000 euros in damages.

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Your act has plunged an entire small town, the town of Hürth, into a state of shock.