German retiree on trial after neighbor lit on fire with creme brulee torch

A German retiree has gone on trial for attempted murder for allegedly setting fire to his neighbor with a creme brulee torch.

The 63-year-old is alleged to have attacked his 65-year-old neighbor in January in the southern town of Seubersdorf after a months-long dispute over a trimmed hedge.

Prosecutors say he knocked on the neighbor's door armed with an ax, the torch and a pistol. When the neighbor answered, the suspect sprayed him with a combustible solvent and set fire to him with the torch, causing severe burns to his face, legs and hands.

Other neighbors were able to subdue the defendant and call police.

As his trial opened Thursday in Nuremberg state court, the defendant's attorney said her client could not remember the incident, the dpa news agency reported.