Dortmund bus bomber sentenced to 14 years in prison

The man responsible for a bomb attack on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder.

Dortmund were en route to their Signal Iduna Park home for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Monaco on April 11, 2017 when three explosions went off.

Defender Marc Bartra was wounded and suffered a broken wrist, while the game was delayed by 24 hours – the Bundesliga side suffering a 3-2 defeat before eventually bowing out 6-3 on aggregate.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office alleged that the 29-year-old suspect of dual German and Russian nationality, identified during the trial as “Sergej W”, was motivated by financial gain after buying options on the day of the attack entitling him to sell Dortmund shares at a set price.

The suspect admitted having built and detonated the bombs but denied any killing intent, claiming to have wanted only to spread fear and terror.

He was charged with 28 counts of attempted murder in August and was handed his sentence on Tuesday.

The prosecution had been pushing for life imprisonment, while the defence wanted a sentence “in the single-digit range”.