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German Court Rules Attacker to Remain in Psychiatric Care
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

German Court Rules Attacker to Remain in Psychiatric Care

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A German court ruled that a young Syrian man who attacked train passengers with an axe last year will remain in psychiatric care.
  • The court determined he acted in a state of mental alienation and is not criminally responsible due to paranoid schizophrenia.
  • The attack occurred when the accused was under 21, leading to his trial in juvenile court.

A German court has ordered that a young Syrian man, who attacked passengers on a train with an axe a year ago, will continue to be held in a psychiatric hospital. The tribunal determined that the individual acted in a state of mental alienation and is therefore not criminally liable for his actions.

According to a spokesperson for the Regional Court of Regensburg, the accused suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. During the incident, his delusions led him to feel threatened by his surroundings. The court concluded that the attack was not motivated by political or religious reasons.

The accused suffered from (and still suffers from) paranoid schizophrenia. At the time of the events, in his delirium, he felt threatened by his immediate surroundings. It was not an act with political or religious motivation.

— Spokesperson for the Regional Court of RegensburgExplaining the defendant's mental state during the attack.

The young man was tried in juvenile court because he was under 21 at the time of the attack, which took place on a train traveling between Obertraubling and Passau in Bavaria. The court found that while his capacity for discernment might have been affected at the time of the incident, his ability to control his actions was certainly impaired.

The verdict is not yet final and can be appealed. The attack, which occurred on July 3 of the previous year, resulted in several injuries. Two individuals, a 52-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man, sustained serious head injuries. Other passengers intervened and managed to subdue the attacker. Witnesses reported that the assailant approached a Syrian family on the train, speaking incoherently and hostilely. When he produced an axe and a hammer, another passenger alerted emergency services. The attacker then reportedly struck the mother of the Syrian family, who was shielding her children, before other passengers intervened to restrain him.

The court found that it cannot be excluded that the accused's capacity for discernment was affected at the time of the events, but that his capacity for control was certainly impaired.

— Court SpokespersonDetailing the court's findings on the defendant's mental state and control.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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