A German court on Thursday ruled that an Afghan migrant who attacked a group of toddlers in southern Germany must be placed in a psychiatric hospital.
The 28-year-old man, identified as Enamullah O., killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to intervene in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg nine months ago.
“There is no motive or normal psychological explanation” for the attack, said presiding judge Karsten Krebs, adding that O. had acted during an “acute psychotic phase of schizophrenia”.
The man could remain confined to a psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life, although regular evaluations will determine whether he still poses a threat.
Five toddlers from a kindergarten class were in a public park, accompanied by two teachers, when the assailant attacked them with a kitchen knife on January 22.
He also wounded a two-year-old Syrian girl, one of the teachers as well as a 72-year-old man who had tried to protect the children.
The defendant was subdued during the trial, staring at the table in front of him. His defence lawyer described the attack as the “deed of a madman” at the start of the proceedings.
The attack, which came just a month before German national elections, inflamed an already heated debate on migration.
The then-frontrunner Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats, reacted to the stabbings by demanding a “fundamental” overhaul of asylum rules and strict border controls. He went on to become chancellor.
But the judge on Thursday was adamant that the intense national debate over the attack played no role in the courtroom.
“Political discussions have no place in criminal proceedings,” said Krebs, adding that the consequences of the stabbings have been “devastating” for all those affected.
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