Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been fined by a German court after damaging his neighbor’s garage with a chainsaw.
In July 2022, after claiming that his neighbor’s new garage was blocking his view of Lake Starnberg from his Bavarian home, former Arsenal player Lehmann broke into the garage and sawed off a roof beam to using a chainsaw. After being found guilty of this and other charges, including insulting behavior and attempted fraud, the 54-year-old was fined €420,000.
Judge Tanja Walter said Lehmann had “constantly presented as a victim of the judicial system“, but that he was ” not a victim, but an aggressor”who presented “scandalous stories” in his defense in court.
After Lehmann claimed it was a coincidence that he was carrying a chainsaw when he entered the garage and was stabbed “character assassination”, the judge said: “The only person who has behaved in a way that damages his own reputation is the defendant himself. »
Lehmann retired in 2011 after a successful club and international career. He was a member of the invincible Arsenal team that won the Premier League in 2003-2004. He also won the Bundesliga, UEFA Cup and Serie A with Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04 and AC Milan respectively. He saved two penalties in Germany’s 2006 World Cup quarter-final victory over Argentina. In 2021, he was removed from his position on the supervisory board of Hertha Berlin after sending a racist WhatsApp message.
