A court in Germany has handed down a life sentence to Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen for a deadly attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market in December 2024. The 51-year-old Saudi national was found guilty of murder.
Prosecutors stated he drove a rented BMW at high speed into the crowded market, killing six people-a nine-year-old boy and five women-and injuring about 300 others. The attack lasted just over a minute.
The court heard Al-Abdulmohsen acted alone, driven by personal motives and a need for attention rather than ideology. A psychiatric expert diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder.
Al-Abdulmohsen, who had been granted asylum in Germany in 2016, had worked as a psychiatrist. He had voiced support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party online. Officials described him as an "untypical" attacker. He retains the right to appeal the verdict.