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The deadly rampage at the Magdeburg Christmas market on 20 December 2024 shocked the whole of Germany. The perpetrator Taleb al Abdulmohsen was arrested at the scene and on Friday was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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The 51-year-old was found guilty of six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder, as well as causing grievous bodily harm. He was ordered to be detained for the purpose of preventing reoffending.
During the trial, Abdulmohsen admitted to driving the BMW X3 compact SUV through the crowd but denied deliberately running people over. Prosecutors described that claim as preposterous.
The vehicle reportedly reached a speed of 48 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour) during the rampage that killed a nine-year-old boy and five women aged between 45 and 75.
According to the Office of the Attorney General, the doctor from Saudi Arabia had planned the attack well in advance and was not motivated by ideology.
Abdulmohsen told the court he was angry that the rights of Saudi women were being ignored by German authorities.
“The defendant was, and remains, solely concerned with himself,” the Chief Public Prosecutor Matthias Böttcher said.
According to a psychiatric expert, the perpetrator suffered from a narcissistic personality disorder and had an enormous need for attention.
Commenting on the rampage, Böttcher said it had “gone beyond any humanly comprehensible scale”. He added: “The suffering endured by the victims and their families is almost impossible to put into words.” The court recognised the particular gravity of the offence.
Abdulmohsen, who comes from Saudi Arabia, had been granted asylum in Germany. He was employed as a psychiatrist at a secure psychiatric hospital for mentally ill offenders in Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt.
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