German gang who raped 14-year-old girl and left her 'like a piece of meat' spared jail

The 'mild' sentence has prompted backlash locally

The sentences have been criticised locally, sparking calls for the judgment to be reviewed (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A gang of men and boys who raped a 14-year-old girl in a brutal attack before leaving her partially naked and unconscious in freezing temperatures will avoid jail, it has been reported.

Prosecutors in Hamburg, Germany, are appealing a decision to give the convicted attackers suspended sentences. A spokesperson for the lawyers told broadcasters NDR the sentence is a “mild verdict” and called for it to be reviewed so the group receive jail time.

The four men, aged between 14 and 21 were convicted of getting the girl drunk in February, before raping her and leaving her outside in freezing temperatures, The Local reports. The court was reportedly told the group “threw her away like garbage” after the attack. When she was found, she was suffering from hypothermia and required treatment in intensive care.

The 21-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison because he was tried as an adult.

However, under local laws the minors could not be tried as adults and so have instead received suspended sentences as juvenile law recommends education and reform before punishment. Some are currently attending therapy and have shown remorse, the court was reportedly told.

The sentences have provoked backlash locally, amid concerns they are too lenient. A petition started online calling for the judge’s decision to be reviewed has received more than 66,000 signatures at the time of writing. It urges: “It cannot be that a four-person gang rape of a 14-year-old ends with a suspended sentence. In particular, when the girl was then left like a piece of meat and half-naked in the cold.

“The sexual self-determination and integrity of a woman must have more weight here than worrying about the offender.”

Germany’s rape laws have recently come under scrutiny following attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve in which dozens of women claimed they were attacked by gangs of men. Under local laws, alleged victims must prove that they verbally and physically resisted sexual contact, prompting concerns the attacks would not be prosecuted. In July, Germany’s parliament passed ‘No means no’ laws to make it easier to prosecute assaults even if an alleged victim did not resist physically but gave verbal resistance.