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Borussia Dortmund bus bomber given 14-year jail sentence

Maja Hitij / Getty Images News / Getty

The man who launched a bomb attack on Borussia Dortmund's team bus in April 2017 was convicted Tuesday of 28 counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Identified in court papers as Sergej W., the 29-year-old admitted to causing the explosions that left former Dortmund defender Marc Bartra with a fractured wrist.

Dortmund's bus was on its way to a Champions League match against AS Monaco when three bombs went off. The blasts occurred shortly after the bus left a Dortmund hotel, shattering windows and leaving a police officer with hearing loss, according to the BBC.

Prosecutors said W. bombed the bus with the intention of dropping Dortmund's share price. He allegedly took out a loan to place a bet on the club's stock plummeting. Dortmund are the only German club listed on the stock exchange.

W. pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder.

"I didn't want to hurt or seriously hurt anyone, and I certainly didn't want to kill anyone," W. said during the trial.

Judge Peter Windgaetter determined the bombs were designed to cause bodily harm.

"The defendant anticipated the possibility that people could be killed," Windgaetter said, according to The Associated Press. "He could not have controlled the direction of the explosion.

"His aim was to send as loud a signal as possible, leading to declines in the share price."

W. was arrested 10 days after the attack.

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