Teen Who Stabbed Homeless Man on Camera for Online "Challenge" Gets 6 Years in Prague

The Central Bohemian Regional Court has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to six years in prison for a brutal attack on a homeless man in Prague's Holešovice district. According to the court, the teenager attacked his victim on January 9 in an underpass beneath the Hlávkův Bridge in order to film the assault and win recognition from an online group.

Case files show the young man had accepted an online challenge earlier that year — to carry out, record, and prove a violent attack on a homeless person. He had scouted the location beforehand and picked his victim as an "easy target."

How the attack unfolded

On the evening of January 9, the teenager took the metro to Vltavská station, drank alcohol for courage, and waited until the area was empty of passersby. Around 11 p.m., he approached the sleeping 58-year-old homeless man under the bridge, woke him by tapping his head, and immediately sprayed pepper spray into his eyes. He then began stabbing the man, who was lying on his side, in the chest and right arm with a folding knife.

Investigators say he struck at least ten times, with about half the blows piercing the body. As the victim begged for mercy, the attacker told him, "You deserve this, you bastard," and "Die already, and quickly." The man survived only because his thick clothing and sleeping bag absorbed much of the force of the blows. When he began shouting loudly for help, the attacker fled. A passerby called for assistance, and the victim ended up in intensive care at Motol Hospital.

The court's ruling

The presiding judge of the Central Bohemian Regional Court stated that "an attack intended to kill a person for recognition or respect within a group reflects extreme inhumanity." He added that the sentence should send a clear signal to anyone thinking along similar lines: such acts are, and will continue to be, punished severely.

The defense, which had sought a suspended sentence for causing bodily harm, immediately filed an appeal against the verdict. The state prosecutor said he would consider whether to appeal as well.

In addition to the prison term, the court ordered the teenager to undergo psychological counseling while serving his sentence. He must also pay the victim 300,000 crowns in compensation for his suffering — the young man's family had already covered part of the damages earlier.

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Source: novinky.cz