Scenes that could be straight out of an action movie unfolded in the Stavroupoli area of Thessaloniki when a 50-year-old man destroyed two neighbours’ cars with an axe because he thought they were watching him with… hidden cameras placed in his house.

According to the case file, the unbelievable incident occurred in the early morning hours of September 7, when the 50-year-old rammed his car into his neighbor’s car that was parked under the apartment building where they live. Then, the man exited the vehicle holding a axe – a total length of 36 centimeters – and began to “nail the glass” of his neighbor’s car and his son, as shown in the photos published by protothema.gr.

According to the victims’ complaint, the 63-year-old man and his 39-year-old son heard the noise from the … axes and went out on the balcony of the apartment to see what was happening. Surprised, they saw their neighbour destroying their cars with an axe and started shouting at him to stop. Instead, the defendant began threatening them, saying, among other things, “come down and see what will happen to you” and “I will kill you” and cursing them vulgarly.

Father and son alerted the police, however by the time officers arrived and handcuffed the 50-year-old he had moved the axe towards the apartment building and caused damage to the front door and ground floor area in his attempt to climb up to their apartment. Fortunately for the victims, the accused’s brother-in-law, who realized what had happened, rushed to calm him down and persuaded him to surrender to the police.

“He broke everything, threatened to burn us”

After the arrest of the 50-year-old and the prosecutor’s indictment against him, the case was introduced for trial under the autopsy procedure at the Thessaloniki Single-Member Plenary Court, where, after the victims’ testimonies, it was postponed until early October.

As the father and son testified in court, the damage caused by the accused with the axe to their vehicles exceeds 4,000 euros, especially to the first, since, among other things, he broke the windows, the headlights, caused damage to the hood, etc.

“He broke everything, threatened me, my children and my wife that he would burn us,” said the 63-year-old in his statement, adding that “I was afraid that he would come upstairs to kill us. He was shouting I’m going to kill you and tear you to pieces.” For his part, the second victim noted that he feared for the physical integrity of his family as the accused had told his mother many times that “you will cry your children.”

It should be noted that this is not the first time the 50-year-old has turned violent against his neighbours as he has threatened them with a knife and “crab” in the past and has been convicted for his act, but the sentence he received was suspended and thus he stayed out of jail.

He believed they were planting hidden cameras in his home

A few days before the trial, the accused was transferred to the psychiatric hospital and as a result the court was adjourned as he was not present to testify. The first words he told police officers after his arrest were that he performed these acts as victims routinely place “microcameras” in his home and car. “God has kept me safe and I did not do more harm,” he also said upon his arrest.

The defendant’s father testified to police that his son has been obsessed lately and believes that people are sneaking into his house and setting up cameras, and his brother-in-law confirmed the same.