Elderly gunslinger jailed for shooting at clubbers
An appeal court has upheld a 10-month jail term for an 80-year-old man convicted of attempted murder for using a handgun to fire four shots at noisy nightclubbers outside his apartment in Geneva’s Old Town.
The court decision, made last month, was revealed on Monday by a lawyer for a victim who was seriously wounded after being shot in the stomach by the senior early one morning in January 2012, the ATS news agency reported.
The octogenarian, described as “elegant, distinguished and well-spoken”, was sentenced to three years in prison, but only 10 months of the term was firm with the rest suspended.
He had sought to have the entire sentence suspended on the grounds that he was provoked by partygoers making excessive noise at 4.30am and also because his wife is elderly and in poor health.
The retired man’s lawyer said his client had been kept awake for three nights by revellers from a nearby discotheque, now closed, that was running seven days a week, ATS reported.
The partygoers insulted the man and threw rocks at his window, the defence lawyer said.
The pensioner responded by firing in their direction, although he claimed it was dark and he didn’t who precisely where he was shooting.
A witness contradicted this by telling the court that the street was well illuminated.
The convicted man admitted to possessing guns without permits.
He felt he could no longer depend on the police to patrol his neighbourhood because it was not regarded by them as a priority, ATS said.
Because of the tension that was reigning, the senior decided to warn the canton of Geneva’s chief prosecutor that he did not rule out using his revolver.
He said he had earlier used the handgun to kill a wild boor in France and admitted to having once fired a shot against a staircase wall in his neighbourhood in 2011 in another protest against night-time noise.
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The court decision, made last month, was revealed on Monday by a lawyer for a victim who was seriously wounded after being shot in the stomach by the senior early one morning in January 2012, the ATS news agency reported.
The octogenarian, described as “elegant, distinguished and well-spoken”, was sentenced to three years in prison, but only 10 months of the term was firm with the rest suspended.
He had sought to have the entire sentence suspended on the grounds that he was provoked by partygoers making excessive noise at 4.30am and also because his wife is elderly and in poor health.
The retired man’s lawyer said his client had been kept awake for three nights by revellers from a nearby discotheque, now closed, that was running seven days a week, ATS reported.
The partygoers insulted the man and threw rocks at his window, the defence lawyer said.
The pensioner responded by firing in their direction, although he claimed it was dark and he didn’t who precisely where he was shooting.
A witness contradicted this by telling the court that the street was well illuminated.
The convicted man admitted to possessing guns without permits.
He felt he could no longer depend on the police to patrol his neighbourhood because it was not regarded by them as a priority, ATS said.
Because of the tension that was reigning, the senior decided to warn the canton of Geneva’s chief prosecutor that he did not rule out using his revolver.
He said he had earlier used the handgun to kill a wild boor in France and admitted to having once fired a shot against a staircase wall in his neighbourhood in 2011 in another protest against night-time noise.
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