Josef Fritzl is 'no longer dangerous' as court agrees to transfer him from psychiatric ward

Fritzl was photographed for the first time in 15 years on Thursday Photo: AFP/Joe Klamar

An Austrian court on Thursday approved the transfer of Josef Fritz, who kept his daughter in a basement for more than 24 years and fathered seven children with her, from a special security unit to a regular prison.

Fritzl, 88, was “very touched” by the court decision and will apply for full release next year year, his lawyer said.

Fritzl was sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for the murder of the newborn child he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth by neglecting him while keeping her in a specially built basement of his home. He was also found guilty of incest, sequestration, felonious assault and 3,000 counts of rape.

Fritzl is being held in a prison for high-risk mental patients in Krems, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north -west of Vienna.

The Krems Regional Court approved Fritzl's request to transfer him to a regular prison. According to his lawyer Astrid Wagner, this is the first step towards release.

The verdict.

can be appealed

«The court has concluded that he is no longer dangerous,» based on a new psychiatrist's report, Wagner told reporters outside the court.

«He will now be transferred to a regular prison, but he must undergo regular psychiatric examinations » she said, adding that Fritzl is «very touched» by the decision.

Calling Thursday's decision an «important first step,» she added that she plans to apply for her client's release next year.

She cited his poor health due to age and the onset of dementia, and the fact that he had already served the minimum 15 years in prison required for a life sentence.

A court official confirmed the sentence, which could still to be appealed by the prosecutor's office.

The court heard the case of Fritzl — one of Austria's most notorious criminals, who has since changed his name — behind closed doors, with a crowd of media gathered outside the courthouse.

He was photographed for the first time in 15 years Thursday morning as he was driven to court, wearing a seat belt in the back seat of a car and wearing a denim jacket.

Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009. Photo: Getty Images

A retired electrical engineer, Fritzl locked his daughter in the family basement in 1984, when she was 18.

< p>Claiming that she had run away from home, Fritzl kept her in the basement in Amstetten, west of Vienna, until 2008, repeatedly raping her, resulting in the birth of seven children. One died at just a few days old.

The case came to light when one of the surviving children fell ill and was hospitalized.

His neighbors, his wife Rosemary and their children survived. upstairs with him, said they were unaware of Fritzl's double life and the unimaginable horrors that were playing out in the labyrinth of soundproofed, windowless rooms beneath their home.

Elisabeth and her surviving children were given new identities and moved to an unknown location .