German torture pupils sentenced

The case sent shockwaves through Germany

A court in Germany has sentenced three students, aged between 16 and 18, to prison sentences of up to a year and a half for abusing a classmate.

Six other young men received suspended sentences, while charges against two others were dropped.

The teenagers were found guilty of repeatedly beating and sexually humiliating their victim at a special school in the town of Hildesheim.

The case has caused much angst about the state of Germany's schools.

Internet images

The students were accused of a wide range of offences including causing bodily harm and coercion over a period from September of last year.

They filmed the abuse that took place in a storeroom at the school and later distributed the images on the internet.

The students allegedly beat and kicked their 17-year-old victim, forcing him to strip, eat chalk and chew cigarette ends.

The nine convicted had confessed during the trial, which was held behind closed doors. The defence had asked that they all be given suspended sentences.

Prosecutors said the victim's classmates at the Hildesheim school knew about, or were involved in, what they call the "systematic torture" which began two weeks after he arrived at the institution.

The victim's ordeal became an open secret in the school, but it was months before he plucked up the courage to tell a counsellor about the abuse he was suffering.

They were all students at the vocational school in Hildesheim, near Hanover, on a one-year course to prepare them for jobs.