Mathias Rust, the 18yo West German Who Flew to Red Square | Hacker News Reader

Mathias Rust, the 18yo West German Who Flew to Red Square

en.wikipedia.org

2 pointsraldi3 comments

   While doing his obligatory community service (Zivildienst) in a West German hospital in 1989, Rust stabbed a female co-worker who had rejected him. The victim barely survived. He was convicted of injuring her and sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but was released after 15 months.

WTF

German prison sentences can be extraordinarily short by U.S. standards; I think I remember hearing that six years was plausible for murder.

Although maybe the "WTF" was about the crime rather than the sentence.

Both, really.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com