Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2003/07/16/man_sentenced_for_trying/

Man sentenced for trying to sell vital organ

Sidney, pass me the kidney

By Drew Cullen

Posted in Legal, 16th July 2003 09:26 GMT

An Austrian mechanic who tried to flog his kidney through the Internet has been handed a four-month suspended jail sentence and €2,000 fine.

The wannabe organ seller had advertised his kidney as a 'blood purification organ' - starting price €66,500. Which seems a tad unrealistic, considering that he is 48 years-old, and that you can buy healthy human kidneys from some third world desperate for a $1,000, or so. Of course, there's a retail mark-up, but any which way, this option is a helluva lot cheaper than the Austrian offer.

Our plucky mechanic wanted the money to prop up his girlfriend's ailing business. But when caught, he expressed relief that he was still in possession of both kidneys, as one was playing him up.

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