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Retrial begins for drunken prince
Source: Agencies |
June 16, 2009, Tuesday
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PRINCESS Caroline of Monaco's husband, Prince Ernst August of Hannover, was retried yesterday on charges that he assaulted a hotel owner in Kenya in a drunken rage.
The 55-year-old - a distant relative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II - was convicted in 2004 of causing serious bodily harm in the incident and was fined 445,000 euros (US$618,000).
The court ruled he repeatedly hit Josef Brunlehner, owner of a hotel on Lamu Island, with a metal object in January 2000 after becoming irritated at the noise from a disco.
During the trial, Brunlehner testified Ernst August punched him with a metal ring in the chest and abdomen, causing multiple bruises, and shouted abuse. The injuries required emergency-room treatment, Brunlehner said.
The prince's attorney at the time, Jochen Heidemeier, told the court that his client regretted the incident, but was not fully accountable because he had been drinking and was a person "who flares up under the influence of alcohol and loses control of his actions."
Ernst August maintains, however, that he only slapped Brunlehner twice, and won the retrial at the end of 2008 when witnesses - including his wife - testified they could corroborate his story.
If the court finds that no object was used in the assault, the prince may be given a lower sentence.
The 55-year-old - a distant relative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II - was convicted in 2004 of causing serious bodily harm in the incident and was fined 445,000 euros (US$618,000).
The court ruled he repeatedly hit Josef Brunlehner, owner of a hotel on Lamu Island, with a metal object in January 2000 after becoming irritated at the noise from a disco.
During the trial, Brunlehner testified Ernst August punched him with a metal ring in the chest and abdomen, causing multiple bruises, and shouted abuse. The injuries required emergency-room treatment, Brunlehner said.
The prince's attorney at the time, Jochen Heidemeier, told the court that his client regretted the incident, but was not fully accountable because he had been drinking and was a person "who flares up under the influence of alcohol and loses control of his actions."
Ernst August maintains, however, that he only slapped Brunlehner twice, and won the retrial at the end of 2008 when witnesses - including his wife - testified they could corroborate his story.
If the court finds that no object was used in the assault, the prince may be given a lower sentence.
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