Man Responsible for Terrorist Attack on Dortmund Bus Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

​The man who planted an explosive device on the Borussia Dortmund team bus in April 2017 has been convicted on 28 counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Dortmund were on their way to their home stadium for a Champions League quarter final against Monaco when the bomb detonated, injuring defender Marc Bartra and a police officer.

​The Washington Post reports that the defendant, who has been identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy rules, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Dortmund state court on Tuesday.

Prosecutors alleged that the suspect took out a loan to place a bet that Borussia Dortmund’s shares would drop in value before carrying out the attack and attempting to disguise it as an act of Islamic terrorism.

Letters found at the scene claimed that the terrorist organisation Islamic State was responsible for the attack, but this was inconsistent with previous acts of terrorism by the same group and the letters were found to be forged.

Bartra was wounded by shards of glass from the shattered bus window and the radial bone in his arm was broken. He underwent an operation and returned to training 29 days later. Dortmund fans held up banners in support of him when the re-scheduled match was played the next day.

Prosecutors can appeal the sentence and may do so, as they had pushed for a harsher punishment given the severity of the attack.