Extension cable in the stairwell St. Gallen woman illegally taps into electricity at the landlord's expense
Because her electricity was cut off, a woman in the canton of St. Gallen used an extension cable to help herself from a socket in the stairwell. She received a letter from the public prosecutor's office.
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- Unpaid bills led to a 53-year-old German woman in the canton of St. Gallen having the electricity in her apartment cut off.
- In order to get electricity anyway, she used an extension cable to install a line to a socket in the stairwell of the apartment building.
- She was sentenced to a fine for illegally using electricity at the landlord's expense.
A 53-year-old German woman had her electricity cut off. The woman, who lives in an apartment building in the canton of St. Gallen, had previously failed to pay bills amounting to over 800 francs.
To avoid being left in the dark, she used an illegal trick. This is shown by a penalty order obtained by "20 Minuten". She simply laid an extension cable in the stairwell and drew electricity from there.
The socket was accessible to all tenants. However, according to the St. Gallen public prosecutor's office, the action was not permitted. They wrote in the penalty order: "The defendant unlawfully obtained electricity for her own use for around two weeks via this self-installed cable, which had not been approved in advance by the landlord."
Sentenced to a fine
The tapped electricity was charged to the landlord. According to police estimates, she used electricity for a double-digit amount.
The 53-year-old had acted with intent: "The accused knew that she was illegally extracting energy from the generally accessible socket in the apartment building," the public prosecutor's office writes.
In mid-June, the woman was found guilty of minor unlawful extraction of energy and sentenced to a fine of 300 francs. She must also pay the costs of the proceedings in the amount of 550 francs. The penalty order is not yet legally binding.
