A 34-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany accused of two counts of murder after driving a car into a crowd in Leipzig’s historic centre in May.
LEIPZIG: The trial began on Monday of a man suspected of ploughing his car into a crowd in the German city of Leipzig in May, killing two people.
The attack was one of several similar incidents which have shocked Germany in recent years committed by perpetrators with various motivations.
The defendant, partially identified as Jeffrey K., 34, stands accused of two counts of murder and 85 counts of attempted murder for the attack, which saw the car plough into a busy main street in Leipzig’s historic centre at speeds of up to 90 kph.
A 63-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man were killed and several others injured.
Many witnesses “are still suffering from psychological problems” as a result, senior prosecutor Ulrich Jakob told the court.
In the month before the attack the accused had been receiving treatment for mental health problems but a court-ordered review found no indication of possible diminished responsibility.
Jakob said that Jeffrey K. planned the attack and “intentionally” chose the site of the attack to harm as many people as possible.
The defendant wanted “to gain public attention” and “thought he had nothing more to lose” after his separation from his wife, Jakob said.
The suspect himself, dressed in a grey and white hoodie, followed the proceedings with no visible emotion and spoke only to confirm his personal details.
His defence lawyer said that the attack was a “human tragedy of shocking proportions” and that his client was suffering from a “situation he felt was hopeless”, spurred by a custody dispute with his wife over their son.
The trial is expected to run until July 2027.
In July a jihadist attacker killed one person and left around 30 people injured after a vehicle ramming and machete attack on revellers at Berlin’s Pride parade.
The presumed perpetrator was shot dead by police the next day after an intensive manhunt.
The deadliest such attack in recent years, on a Magdeburg Christmas market in 2024, killed six people and wounded more than 300, and was committed by a Saudi anti-Islam activist and adherent of right-wing conspiracy theories.
