Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

A man who attacked 2 girls with a knife in Germany and killed 1 is sentenced to life in prison

A court in Germany has convicted a man who attacked two girls and killed one of them last year and sentenced him to life in prison

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 04 July 2023 09:50 BST
Germany Knife Attack
Germany Knife Attack ((c) Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

A man who attacked two girls and killed one of them in Germany last year was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, German news agency dpa reported.

The 27-year-old Eritrean, who came to Germany as an asylum seeker, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder with dangerous bodily injury, a regional court in the Bavarian city of Ulm ruled.

The man attacked with a knife the two girls on their way to school last December in the southwestern town of Illerkirchberg. A 14-year-old girl died and her 13-year-old friend was able to escape.

The morning attack on the girls as they were walking to catch a school bus caused widespread shock and anger in Germany.

The court also determined the man's “special gravity of the guilt,” meaning that his early release from prison after 15 years, which is often the case in Germany when people are sentenced to life in prison, is almost impossible.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in