Child kidnapped

Twelve years in prison for airport hostage-taker

The Hamburg airport hostage-taker was sentenced to twelve years in prison on Tuesday. The presiding judge spoke of an "act of madness" on the evening of November 4. At that time, the man had kidnapped his daughter and thrown incendiary devices at Hamburg Airport (see video above).

The four-year-old lives with her mother in Stade, Lower Saxony. On November 4, 2023, the accused abducted her from her apartment and drove to the airport at high speed. Near the terminal, he broke through three barriers with the rental car and drove onto the apron of the airport.

There he threw two incendiary devices out of the car, causing two columns of fire to shoot up in the middle of the flight operations. Video recordings served as evidence in the trial on Tuesday. The defendant fired a pistol three times into the air, once directly next to a Turkish Airlines plane that had landed shortly before, in which the crew was still present.

Threatened to blow up daughter
The 35-year-old demanded that a plane be made available for him to travel to Turkey with his daughter and threatened to blow himself and the child up. "Either they should kill us or we leave," the public prosecutor quoted him as saying. A supposed explosive belt later turned out to be a dummy.

Flight operations had to be suspended for more than 20 hours, causing millions of euros worth of damage, according to reports. The father largely confessed to the crimes and has now been found guilty of hostage-taking, abduction of minors, intentional bodily harm and possession of ammunition.

Custody lost
"Twelve years in prison for this insane act. That is our answer," said presiding judge Torsten Schwarz. The convicted man has already lost custody.