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A German court sentenced a man to 14 years behind bars today for a bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund (BVB) football team bus last year as part of a money-making scheme, Reuters reports.
The defendant, 29, a German-Russian, identified by authorities only as Sergei W., had admitted to setting off the roadside bomb in April 2017, which injured one of the club’s players, but said he wanted to make money rather than harm or kill anyone.
Sergei was found guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder and setting off an explosion.
“The deed was planned meticulously over a long period of time,” Judge Peter Windgaetter told the court. The defendant, he added, had acted out of greed and played with the possibility that people in the bus could be killed.
Dortmund defender Marc Bartra and a police officer were injured when three homemade pipe bombs hit the team’s bus as it made its way to Westfalenstadion on April 11, 2017. The German club had been scheduled to play Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
The bombs were hidden in hedges by the roadside and exploded around an hour before kick-off.
The defendant, who looked unmoved as the judge sentenced him, expressed deep regret for the attack. He said that he had not meant to harm anyone, and made clear the aim was to trigger a fall in BVB’s share price from which he could profit.
The judge said he had decided on the attack in October 2016 and tried to mislead investigators by writing fake letters from supposed Belgian Islamists claiming responsibility.
Prosecutors, who wanted him imprisoned for life, had argued that the defendant bought some 44 thousand euros or $49,800 worth of options on the day of the attack, which he could have sold at a profit if the share price had dropped. However, BVB shares rose after the attack.
Both sides left open the option of an appeal.
On April 21, 2017, German police arrested Sergej W.
Today’s verdict ended an 11-month trial.
