Viennese machete man in court

A 44-year-old man has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in a clinic for mentally deranged criminals after attacking police officers with a machete.

A special unit stormed the housing estate he lived in when a neighbour rang the police for help. The 26-year-old told police in Vienna-Leopoldstadt he had been physically attacked for smoking in the hallway. He stressed it was not the first time he got into an argument with his next-door neighbour.

The offender refused to come out of his apartment for some time before suddenly opening the door to pounce on the WEGA police team members. One female officer sustained a flesh wound in the attack.

The man argued in court yesterday (Thurs) he did not want to injury anybody. “I deliberately held the machete the wrong way round not to point its sharp blade into the direction of the police officers,” he told the jury – which argued he was not sane.

An expert informed the panel that the man could not be held responsible for his actions due to his mental condition. The jury decided to send him to a special clinic for delinquents with mental illnesses instead of speaking out a prison term over the incident in July 2010.