Luxembourg police officers from Capellen stopped a car early on Saturday 30 September 2023 in the south-west of the country and found 35 cans and bottles of soft drinks, 22 packets of chocolate and sweets, and a bag of paprika crisps.[1] In the car were an adult at the wheel, identified only as Hugo D., and three minors, and all four denied any link to the incident.[1] The stop followed a report around 1.20am that several people had damaged a vending machine in front of a kiosk and fled in a car with French registration plates; a witness noted the make and plate number.[1]

Besides the stolen goods, officers found two bags of hashish and eleven bags of cannabis with a total gross weight of 77.3 grams, a Leatherman knife classed as a category B weapon, and 465 euros in cash.[1] At the end of September Hugo D. appeared before the seventh criminal chamber of the Luxembourg district court, where he continued to deny taking part in the theft.[1] Surveillance footage showed the three minors shaking and overturning the machine while Hugo D. stood beside them laughing, then helped tip it over; the court treated this as approval of the theft and participation in it.[1]

The prosecutors had first said the machine’s glass was smashed, but the case file held no evidence of that, so the court applied article 484 of the Criminal Code, under which forcing open a closed object meant to protect its contents can amount to burglary.[1] At the end of October the seventh criminal chamber sentenced Hugo D. to 18 months in prison, fully suspended, and a 1,500-euro fine for burglary, unlawful possession and transport of cannabis for personal use, and a weapons-law offence.[1] The judges took into account his partial admissions and the absence of a previous conviction that would have ruled out a suspended term.[1] The operator of the vending machine said the goods were worth 119 euros and claimed about 15,000 euros to replace the machine, or about 8,100 euros to repair it; the court awarded it 2,000 euros in damages and 500 euros in procedural costs.[1]

He must also pay nearly 2,200 euros in court costs, including about 2,150 euros for toxicological tests on the seized drugs, and an appeal can be lodged within 40 days.[1]