German judge found in hotel room with younger lover, €30,000 and loaded gun confesses to selling exam papers to law students
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Version 0 of 1. A German judge arrested in his hotel room with his younger lover, a loaded gun and thousands of euros has admitted selling law students answers for upcoming exams. The former judge, identified only as Jörg L., 48, made the confession on the third day of a trial that had been expected to stretch over the coming months and has scandalised much of Germany. “I want to take responsibility for my actions,” he told the court. “I am aware of how much damage I had added to the judiciary.” Originally from Lower Saxony, the married judge led German authorities on a four-day manhunt in March last year, before he was eventually discovered hiding in a hotel room in Milan, Italy, with €30,000 (£23,000) , his 27-year-old Romanian lover and a handgun with 43 rounds of ammunition. Jörg L. told the court how as then-Head of the Regional Judicial Examination Office he sold multiple examination papers to struggling students for sums of €5,000 to €10,000, with some answers sold for as much as €20,000, German newspaper Spiegel Online reported yesterday. Authorities first became suspicious when formerly lacklustre students suddenly developed a noticeably impressive understanding of their classes in a matter of days. The judge claimed he sold papers in order to protect his wife financially and in order to “help” the trainee lawyers. After his arrest in March, investigators have begun working through the examination papers of around 2,000 legal students from 2011, of whom more than 100 are now qualified lawyers, judges or prosecutors. Jörg L. has been waiting on remand for almost a year and could face up to 10 years in prison when sentenced. |