An elderly Swede has been fined for throwing a bucket of water out of his window and over his neighbour in a dramatic move to extinguish his cigarette. The 83-year-old from Solvesborg, southern Sweden, was spared jailed because of his age but ordered to pay SEK 3,120 (USD 450) in compensation to the man he doused.
According to local newspaper the Blekinge Lans Tidning (BLT), the elderly man took the drastic action on a hot night in August this year when he opened his window to get some fresh air. Instead, however, he was greeted with a face full of cigarette smoke that was billowing up from his neighbour’s balcony below.
Talking to BLT when the charges were first filed against him, the 83-year-old described how he poured water on his neighbour. “I went and fetched a bucket from the closet and filled it with water. Yeah, then the cigarette was put out,” he said.
Not happy with the impromptu shower, the neighbour then contacted the police, claiming that the man’s assault was premeditated. The court, however, decided that due to his age and the explanation he gave for his actions, there were little grounds to punish the old man to the full extent of the law.