Two years probation for hunters after fatal shot in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The public prosecutor's office has demanded a two-year suspended prison sentence for the fatal shot by a hunter from Lower Saxony at a hunter friend during a hunt in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He sees the offense of negligent homicide as being met, said the public prosecutor on the last day of the trial surrounding the fatal hunting accident at the Ludwigslust district court in early 2025. The defendant acted recklessly and was guilty of several breaches of duty.

The defense attorney for the 52-year-old from Cloppenburg called for a mild suspended sentence. The verdict is to be pronounced in the afternoon.

The defendant said during the trial that he deeply regretted the fatal incident. He is shocked and deeply regrets what happened. The victim was therefore his best friend.

Hunting friend mistaken for wild boar

The fatal hunting accident occurred at the beginning of January 2025 during a group hunt near Mustin (Ludwigslust-Parchim district). It was evening and already dark. The 48-year-old victim, also from the Cloppenburg region, was sitting on a neighboring perch 142 meters away from the defendant's perch. The victim was hit in the neck by the bullet and bled to death.

According to the prosecution and his own statement, the shooter mistook his hunter friend for a wild boar. When the scope was magnified, his thermal imaging device only delivered a highly pixelated image, actually just a bright spot. This was confirmed by experts who testified in the trial. Further checks as to what the displayed object really was were therefore not carried out.