Kleve Regional Court sentences fake emergency paramedic to ten years in prison

Presiding Judge Gerhard van Gemmeren spoke of an „erschreckenden Sachverhalt" and a „gemeingefährlichen Hochstapelei." The 30-year-old suffers from „einer Art Größenwahn," the judge said. The defendant's serious misconduct had caused the patient's death. Prosecutor Marco Held saw the motive in an „übersteigerten Geltungsbedürfnis" of the man.

The convicted man is a trained professional truck driver and, according to the court's conviction, possessed no qualification whatsoever as an emergency paramedic. Nevertheless, he had repeatedly obtained assignments in emergency services in North Rhine-Westphalia using forged certificates and documents. On the day of the fatal incident in August 2025, he had been deployed in emergency services for the German Red Cross (DRK) through a temporary employment agency.

The fatal deployment in Kamp-Lintfort

During the deployment in Kamp-Lintfort, the condition of the 80-year-old, chronically heart-sick patient deteriorated dramatically. According to the court, the daughters present repeatedly asked for an emergency physician to be called — the defendant failed to do so. In addition, he independently administered a non-indicated medication to the man in an incomprehensible dosage. An expert stated on the final day of the trial that the incorrect medication and the failure to call an emergency physician were the cause of the patient's death. The 80-year-old died shortly after the rescue operation in the hospital.

The two daughters of the deceased testified as witnesses. One of them, Merisa Spengler, tearfully described: „Er wurde uns so plötzlich genommen. Er ist einfach weggegangen und wir können damit nicht abschließen." Another daughter said: „Er fehlt uns jeden Tag." At the start of the trial, the women had brought a photograph of their father.

Statements from the relatives and the defendant

The defendant admitted at the beginning of the trial that he had repeatedly posed as an emergency paramedic using forged papers. On the final day of the trial, he turned to the daughters present and asked for forgiveness. „Ich habe das nicht kommen sehen – es tut mir leid," he said. At the same time, he denied having had an intention to kill in the specific case. He had wanted to help people, not harm them, he had stated through his defense attorney Rainer Pohlen.

The defense had argued that the death of the severely heart-sick 80-year-old would probably not have been preventable in any case. The court did not follow this line. The prosecution had assessed the defendant's behavior as „kausal für das Versterben" of the patient. According to his attorney, the convicted man had already spent eleven months in pretrial detention.

Reactions and open questions

The case attracted attention beyond the Lower Rhine region. WDR and dpa reported on the verdict, citing a reporter on site. The prosecution assessed the sentence as a clear signal against impostor fraud in the healthcare sector. Observers expect that the question of verifying qualification credentials in emergency services will continue to be discussed politically.

With the guilty verdict, a trial came to an end that exposed the weaknesses in the screening of temporary workers in emergency services. The convicted man had reached the DRK through a placement agency without his forged documents being noticed. The court assessed this as an alarming set of circumstances that extends beyond the individual case.

The daughters of the victim appeared exhausted but relieved after the verdict was announced, that responsibility had been judicially established. They had accompanied the trial as witnesses and repeatedly emphasized how much they missed their father. The verdict marks the provisional conclusion of a proceeding that redefined the boundaries between professional presumption and criminally relevant misconduct.