Connections to IS - 15-year-old planned an attack on a Christmas market - now he has been sentenced
Due to a planned terrorist attack on a Christmas market, the Cologne Regional Court sentenced a 15-year-old boy to a juvenile prison term of four years on Friday. The verdict was handed down due to conspiracy to commit murder and disturbing the peace by threatening crimes, as the court spokesperson announced following the non-public trial.
The Youth Chamber found it proven that the defendant had radicalized since autumn 2023. Already a few weeks later, he had made a plan with a friend to carry out an islamistically motivated attack on the Christmas market in Leverkusen-Opladen.
"Concretely, the plans called for the defendant to drive an rented truck over the Christmas market in order to kill as many visitors, whom he considered infidels," the spokesperson said. The alleged accomplice from Brandenburg was supposed to film the act.
The teenager wanted to film the attack
Initially, in the indictment, the prosecution had assumed that the defendant intended to bring a truck filled with gas cylinders to the explosion on the Christmas market. However, the execution of the crime had presented itself differently in the main trial, the spokesperson said.
According to the judgment, the 15-year-old had also published a video in a chat group announcing an attack on "infidels." In the background of the clip was a recognition symbol of the so-called Islamic State (IS).
The teenager from the Rheinisch-Bergischer District had confessed extensively in the trial, the court spokesperson said.
"The defendant was to be sentenced according to juvenile law. In juvenile law, the educational aspect is prioritized in the selection of penalties," explained the spokesperson. "Specifically, the sentencing was based on the fact that the defendant had fully confessed during the main trial, he had no prior convictions, and he was still a young juvenile." The judgment is not yet legally binding.
The 15-year-old was arrested towards the end of November based on earlier investigative information. In Brandenburg, his then 16-year-old alleged accomplice was also arrested and will appear before the Neuruppin Land Court to answer for the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
The defendant, despite the changed plans, still expressed his intention to attack the Christmas market in Leverkusen-Opladen, as shown in the video he published announcing an attack on "infidels." However, the teenager should not attend the planned attack in Leverkusen, as he was sentenced to stop any further actions and spend four years in a juvenile prison.
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