London, Jan 31 (IANS) A Munich court has handed a 18-month suspended sentence and a euro 200,000 fine to former Force India driver Adrian Sutil for injuring the chief executive of the then Renault Formula One team at a night club in China last year.
Sutil has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm by the court after he allegedly hurt Renault official Eric Lux at a Shanghai nightclub during the Chinese Grand Prix last April.
Lux needed several stitches for a neck wound after Sutil hit him with a champagne glass, Guardian reported Tuesday. Sutil is yet to find a race seat for 2012 after being overlooked by Force India, which has picked Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg for the upcoming season. Renault is now renamed team Lotus.
Sutil had told the court on the first day of proceedings Monday that he apologised to Lux and it was not his intention to hurt him and rather wanted to throw a drink on his face, the paper added.
The prosecution had earlier asked for a 21-month sentence and a euro 300,000 fine against Sutil.
“Pushing someone away with a glass is adventurous and not in line with our experience of life. Professional athletes play a role model function in public life and such incidents should not occur,” prosecutor Nicole Selzam told the court.
Sutil’s fine will be used for charity. The court had also wanted to hear from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who was in the night club at the time of the incident, but he was unavailable due to team commitments.
