Overview
- Prosecutors opened the trial at the Landgericht Bielefeld, reading a 367‑page indictment that lists nearly 200 alleged acts from 2014 to 2019 and began on Thursday.
- The indictment accuses managers of ordering repeated use of a bare “Time‑Out” room, locking residents in their rooms, fixing people with straps on chairs or mats, and using irritant gas in multiple cases.
- Four defendants face charges: three former senior facility managers and a 73‑year‑old psychiatrist, while defence lawyers say actions were taken under the older legal regime, backed by judicial orders and written protocols.
- Initial investigations once named about 165 suspects, mostly care staff, but most of those cases were later dropped and the prosecution has focused responsibility on leadership and the doctor.
- The scandal prompted a 2022 expert review and law changes that now require exhaustion of alternatives, consent from residents or guardians or a court, and mandatory prevention concepts, and the trial will test how those reforms answer past failures.