Here is the report from the Tyrol:

Hunters with pepper spray against mountain bikers!!!

Judge P. Friedrich sentenced a hunting tenant to a conditional fine of 10,800 euros for coercion and assault at Innsbruck Regional Court.

The hunter had obviously chosen August 15, 2002 as the day to stalk mountain bikers. Armed with his off-road vehicle and pepper spray, he blocked the forest path to Planötzenhof in the north of Innsbruck (popular mountain bike route towards Höttinger Alm). He first caught a young boy, whom he forbade from cycling. Shortly afterwards, the hunter prevented a doctor from continuing his ride. The doctor testified as a witness: "He held my bike by the saddle. I tried to free myself. He then claimed that I had injured his shoulder." The judge to the defendant: "And then you used the pepper spray?" The tenant hunter: "Yes, I did. I wanted to prevent him from fleeing before the police I had alerted arrived. After all, driving was prohibited there."

The doctor, on the other hand, pointed out that this route was listed in a mountain bike guide. The tenant hunter was unable to provide any proof of his alleged injury. The doctor, on the other hand, had to be treated in hospital after the pepper spray attack.

Judge Friedrich did not show the slightest understanding for this type of vigilante justice: "It is still the job of the police to arrest someone. And it should stay that way."