Man who bombed Dortmund football team bus faces verdict

A Russian-born German man who launched a shrapnel bomb attack on the team bus of football club Borussia Dortmund last year, wounding two people, faces his verdict and sentence Tuesday.

Sergej Wenergold, 29, had hoped to profit financially from the attack by betting on an anticipated plunge in the club's stock market value, say prosecutors.

The court in the western city of Dortmund will have to decide whether he is guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder, which would carry a maximum term of life in prison.

The trained electrician also faces charges of causing an explosion and two counts of causing serious injury, as the blasts wounded Spanish defender Marc Bartra and a police officer on a motorcycle.

After an 11-month trial, justice Peter Windgaetter was expected to announce the verdict around 2pm local time (1300 GMT).

Wenergold had stayed in the same hotel as the team when he launched the attack on April 11, 2017 as the bus was heading for a Champions' League match against Monaco.

He had hidden in a hedge three explosive devices, each of which contained up to a kilogramme (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 jihadist attack.

- Market gamble -
=================