German Sentenced to 14 Years for Dortmund Football Team Bus Bomb

Date: 27 November 2018 - 21:39

News ID: ۶۰۱۱۹

DORTMUND, Germany (AFP) - A German man who launched a shrapnel bomb attack on the team bus of football club Borussia Dortmund in April 2017 to make money on the club's shares diving was on Tuesday sentenced to 14 years in jail.
A court in Dortmund found Sergej Wenergold, 29, guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder after he detonated three explosive devices while the bus was en route to the stadium for a Champions League game last year.
After an 11-month trial, the trained electrician, who was born in Russia, was also found guilty of causing an explosion and two counts of causing serious injury after the blasts wounded Spanish defender Marc Bartra and a police officer.
Wenergold had stayed in the same hotel as the team when he remotely triggered the bomb attack on the evening of April 11, 2017 as the bus was heading for a Champions' League quarter-final match against Monaco.
He had hidden in a hedge three explosive devices, each of which contained up to a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of a hydrogen peroxide mixture and about 65 cigarette-sized metal bolts.
Wenergold had left letters suggesting an Islamist terrorist motive at the scene, sparking initial alarm about a possible terrorist attack.
He had bought put options worth some 26,000 euros ($29,000) -- essentially a bet on the club's share price falling -- and had hoped to gain half a million euros, said prosecutors.

******Sergej Wenergold (C) reportedly drew attention to himself by ordering a steak in the near-by hotel, moments after detonating three bombs which rocked the Borussia Dortmund team bus en route to a Champions League quarter-final in April 2017.