Prosecution Seeks 12 Years for Man Accused in Train Conductor's Death

Prosecutors are demanding a 12-year prison sentence for a 26-year-old man accused of fatally assaulting a train conductor during a ticket inspection in February. The state prosecutor's office argued that the defendant is guilty of assault resulting in death.

The incident occurred near Landstuhl in Rhineland-Palatinate when the conductor, identified as 36-year-old Serkan Çalar, asked the passenger to show his ticket and identify himself. The defendant, who was traveling without a ticket, allegedly responded by punching the conductor multiple times in the head and temples.

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a completely senseless outburst

Çalar died two days later in the hospital from a brain hemorrhage. He was the eldest of five brothers and a single father to two children. The prosecutor stated that the attack was a "completely senseless outburst" over a trivial matter. While the defendant did not intend to kill the conductor, he intended to injure him and teach him a lesson, the court heard.

The accused, a Greek national, did not have a ticket and refused to identify himself. The conductor lightly touched him while asking him to leave the regional express train, which then triggered the assault. The court is considering the charge of assault resulting in death, acknowledging that the defendant did not anticipate the conductor's death from the blows.

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had to strike to injure his victim and to teach him a lesson