Hungarian camerawoman filmed tripping up fleeing refugees handed 3-year probation

A Hungarian camerawoman who was widely condemned after she tripped and kicked fleeing migrants, some of them children, has been found guilty of disorderly conduct. Petra László was handed a three-year probation.

She was recorded kicking out at a number of refugees on 8 September 2015 as they broke through a police blockade near the Serbian border.

In the footage, László can be seen tripping a man sprinting whilst carrying a child, and kicking another running child near the town of Röszke. In the weeks following the incident, the video journalist was sacked from her job at the N1TV station, an internet-based television station, with links to the country's far-right Jobbik party.

Footage of the incident was captured by journalist Stephan Richter who was also documenting the breach of the police blockade.

On Thursday (12 January) a judge in Szeged, southern Hungary, said László's actions triggered "indignation and outrage".

The judge also rejected her lawyer's claim that she was merely trying to protect herself, according to Agence France Press (AFP).

"I turned and saw several hundred people charging toward me; it was quite incredibly frightening," she said of the incident whilst appearing via video link from a court in Budapest. She also claimed that she had received death threats after the incident, adding that she "terribly regretted" what happened and her life had been "derailed" by the incident.

Both the defence and prosecution have said that they would appeal the verdict.

The incident happened as thousands of migrants crossed into the country as a gateway into the EU's passport-free Schengen zone, with many settling in northern European countries.

Following the incident one of those kicked, named as Osama Abdul Mohsen, father to 7-year-old Zaid and a former division one football coach in Syria, was offered a football coaching job and a place to live near Getafe, in Spain's national football coach training centre Cenafe.