German teen unplugs pensioner's 'noisy' life support machine

Police in Southern Germany are quizzing a 17-year-old car crash victim who turned off a fellow hospital patient's life-support machine because it was keeping him awake.

Frederik Moelner wound up in intensive care recovering from the accident, reports Ananova, but his attempts to have a bit of recuperative kip were stymied by the noisy life support machine keeping the 76-year-old in the neighbouring bed breathing.

Rather than take a sedative, the 17-year-old took matters into his own hands, pulling the plug on the offending piece of medical technology, thus ensuring shut-eye himself and, potentially, the big sleep for his unfortunate neighbour.

Luckily medical staff quickly realised what had happened, and reconnected the lucky pensioner. They then connected the sleep deprived 17-year-old with the local police.

Sadly, it is not clear whether the machine in question was one that went bing. ®