A German court sentenced a 15-year-old to four years of juvenile detention on Friday for planning a terrorist attack on a Christmas market.
The juvenile court handed down a sentence for conspiracy to commit murder and disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit criminal offences, a court spokesman said after the hearing, which was not open to the public.
The court found that the defendant had been radicalized in the autumn of 2023. After a few weeks, he and an acquaintance agreed to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack on the Christmas market in Leverkusen, some 20 kilometres outside of Cologne.
The court spokesman said the plans involved the defendant driving a rented truck through the market to kill as many visitors as possible, whom he considered infidels. His alleged accomplice was supposed to film the act.
According to the judgement, the teen had also published a video in a chat group in which he announced an attack on "infidels."
A recognizable symbol of the so-called Islamic State (IS) can be seen in the background of the clip.
"The sentencing was based on the fact that the defendant fully confessed during the main hearing, that he had no previous convictions and that he was still particularly young as a juvenile," he said.
The trial against his 16-year-old alleged accomplice - also for conspiracy to murder - is scheduled to begin on July 17.