A man accused of stabbing on a tram over a puppy was charged

It would have taken a miracle to save the life of the 25-year-old man who was stabbed on the evening of April 3, 2020, on a tram in Budapest. The 25-year-old man got into a dispute over protecting himself and his puppy.

The prosecution statement describes the exact details of what happened that night. The three defendants – a 44-year-old and a 39-year-old man, as well as a 30-year-old woman – lived as homeless people and spent most of their time in the VIII. district, in abandoned buildings. Of the three defendants, the men were cousins, while the woman was in a casual romantic relationship with the 44-year-old man at the time.

The defendants, as well as the girlfriend of the 39-year-old man, celebrated a birthday on April 3, 2020, and in the evening, they had already drunkenly decided to go to a tobacco shop to have another drink. They went out to the tram stop on Kőbányai út, where tram 28 heading towards Blaha Lujza Square arrived. They proceeded to board the vehicle.

The man who was later stabbed, his friend and the small dog of the later victim travelled on the same tram. The 44-year-old defendant stopped to pet the dog on the victim’s friend’s lap while he and his companions made mocking remarks about the puppy. The owner of the dog called on the man to stay away from his dog and to subject to the epidemiological rules in force. Upon hearing this, the accused got upset and spat on the face of the later victim.

During the dispute, the accused took out a knife and threatened the victim, who began to back away as his friend got up from the seat to stand up for his defence, but the accused’s partner hit the later victim’s friend on the face, who fell back into the chair, and the dog started running away. As the dog’s owner watched the runaway dog, the attacker stabbed him in the chest with a knife.