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German Court Sentences Soccer Bus Bomber to 14 Years in Prison


Sergej W., no family name given due to German privacy laws, who is charged with detonating three bombs targeting the Borussia Dortmund soccer team bus in April 2017, arrives for the second day of his trial at a German state court in Dortmund, Jan. 8, 2018.
Sergej W., no family name given due to German privacy laws, who is charged with detonating three bombs targeting the Borussia Dortmund soccer team bus in April 2017, arrives for the second day of his trial at a German state court in Dortmund, Jan. 8, 2018.

A German court has convicted the man who carried out a 2017 bombing on a professional soccer team’s bus of 28 counts attempted murder, sentencing him Tuesday to 14 years in prison.

Sergei Wenergold, 29, hid three bombs filled with metal shrapnel in a roadside hedge that detonated as the Borussia Dortmund team bus passed by on its way to a Champions League game. The blast injured a player and a policeman.

Wenergold attempted to disguise the bombing as an act of terrorism by leaving notes at the scene claiming the attack for the Islamic State. Wenergold later admitted the attack was part of an unusual scheme to make money by driving down the team’s share prices, which he had made a financial bet against, saying he had not intended to harm anyone.

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