2 yıl önce

German court hands life sentence to man who drove into carnival parade

The local man was accused of having deliberately steered his car into a large group of people on Rose Monday with the intention to kill.

Reuters Archive

No one was killed, but 90 people were injured, including 20 who needed hospitalisation.

A German court has sentenced a man to life in prison for ploughing his car into a carnival parade in the western German town of Volkmarsen last year, injuring dozens including 20 children.

The regional court in the central town of Kassel sentenced on Thursday the 31-year-old man German man, whose name wasn't released for privacy reasons, to life in prison.

The local man was accused of having deliberately steered his car into a large group of people with the intention of killing on Rose Monday, the climax of Germany's carnival season.

No one was killed, but 90 people were injured, including 20 who needed hospitalisation.

Prosecutors accused the man of planning the attack in advance and installing a dashboard camera in order to record it. He refused to testify during his trial.

Life imprisonment is the most severe sentence possible in Germany. The court found the man's guilt to be severe, which means his sentence will not be automatically reviewed for parole after 15 years.

Catholic tradition

Rose Monday is an institution in Catholic areas of Germany.

It is the highlight of the German carnival and takes place on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

It is especially celebrated in the Rhineland where tens of thousands of people dress up, drink alcohol and line the streets to watch decorated floats that often mock public figures.

Security at public events in Germany has been tightened since a Tunisian man with militant ties ploughed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, killing 12 people.

He was later shot dead by Italian police after fleeing.