Josef Fritzl to move from psychiatric unit to normal prison

A court in Austria has ruled that the country’s most notorious criminal, Josef Fritzl, can be moved to a normal prison.

Fritzl, who has since changed his name, kept his daughter captive for 24 years in a dungeon he built beneath his home, and fathered seven children with her.

He has been held in an institution for mentally disturbed prisoners since 2009, after his conviction for rape, enslavement, incest and murder by neglect of his newborn son.

The statement from the court in Krems an der Donau said Fritzl, 89, no longer posed a danger that required him to be kept in a prison psychiatric unit.

It said that due to his “progressive dementia” and physical frailty, he was “no longer likely to commit a criminal offence with serious consequences”.

In theory, the transfer to normal prison could pave the way for his eventual release. His lawyer, Astrid Wagner, has said she would apply for this, a year after his transfer.

However the court statement said a release or a conditional release from prison would not be possible, for “special preventative reasons”.

Given Fritzl’s “unprecedented criminal energy”, the statement said such a step was not to be expected.

The ruling can be appealed.