A drunk driver suffering from psychosis who killed six people by driving into a crowd in the German city of Trier (West) in 2020 was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday August 16.
The regional court of Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate) sentenced Bernd Weimann, 52, to life imprisonment and compulsory psychiatric care.
In December 2020, he drove at high speed down a pedestrian street in his 4x4 and aimed indiscriminately at passers-by.
He had killed five people, including a baby, and injured many other bystanders.
A sixth victim died nearly a year after the attack.
“General hatred of humanity”
During the year-long trial, prosecutors argued the defendant planned the attack with the intent to "
kill or injure as many people as possible
".
An expert opinion prepared before the trial determined that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
The accused was only able to give an approximate and sometimes contradictory account of the events.
Investigators at the time ruled out any political, terrorist or religious motives, and none were established during the trial.
According to the prosecution, the crazed driver felt frustrated with his personal situation.
Prior to the attack, he had no fixed address and lived in his vehicle, developing a "
general hatred of humanity
".
Several car-ramming attacks have been carried out in Germany in recent years by drivers suffering from psychological disorders.
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One of the most serious was perpetrated in April 2018 in Münster (North-West).
A man drove a mini-van into a group of people gathered in front of a restaurant, killing five of them, before shooting himself dead.
In December 2016, an Islamist killed 12 people in the heart of Berlin in a truck-ram attack on a Christmas market.
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