A good year after a night-time attack on a 78-year-old in Hamburg’s Bergedorf district, a trial against one of the two alleged perpetrators has begun in front of the district court.

The 23-year-old accused is said to have broken into the senior’s family home together with an unknown accomplice on the night of August 13, 2021.

According to the indictment on Monday, the partially masked men climbed over the garden gate and smashed the glass front doors of the conservatory and the living room.

The 78-year-old, who was staying on the upper floor, was hit with the butt of a revolver, causing the victim to suffer a severely bleeding head laceration. According to the indictment, they asked the man to hand over the key to a safe. But he couldn’t do that because of a mental blockage.

The perpetrators also entered the stepdaughter’s room before the 32-year-old could lock the door. They are said to have dragged both victims into a boiler room and threatened them with death.

The accomplice held the revolver to the stepdaughter’s head and threatened to shoot the 78-year-old if he didn’t hand over the safe key, the prosecutor said. He counted down from ten.

Suddenly the senior remembered where the key was kept. Instead of the one million euros they had hoped for, the perpetrators only found silver coins worth 100 euros and some Filipino cash in the safe.

Out of fear, the 78-year-old gave them 1,000 euros in cash, debit and credit cards, iPads, various keys and the vehicle registration document for his 100,000-euro Jaguar.

The accused and his accomplice tied up the victims. They did not manage to escape in the 78-year-old’s car because they could not open the garage door.

As the police announced at the time, the attacked neighbors were able to inform them, who made an emergency call. The man was taken to a hospital and treated as an inpatient. A crisis intervention team took care of him and his stepdaughter. The search for the robbers was initially unsuccessful.

Six months after the crime, the district court issued an arrest warrant against the 23-year-old. According to the court, he has been in custody since March 11th.

The charges against him are collective dangerous bodily harm, aggravated robbery and false imprisonment. After reading the indictment, the defense attorney said his client would not comment.

The second perpetrator has not yet been identified, said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. The Trial Chamber has scheduled 12 more dates through November 18.