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Would-be bus bomber sentenced to 20 years in jail

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 08.11.2017 18:41
A 23-year-old man, identified only as Paweł R., has been sentenced to 20 years in jail after planting a home-made bomb on a bus in Wrocław, southwestern Poland, last year.
Photo: PAP/Maciej KulczyńskiPhoto: PAP/Maciej Kulczyński

The bomb detonated at a bus stop, injuring a woman, after it was removed from the bus.

Paweł R. was accused of trying to kill many people but claimed that was never his intention.

Last year he said he wanted to cause fear and his defence counsel has said his actions had not been premeditated.

However, while handing down the sentence, Judge Marcin Sosiński said he did not believe that Paweł R. did not intend to kill anyone.

“The evidence shows otherwise, for instance, that Paweł R.'s preparations for the incident were long and detailed," Sosiński said, adding that Paweł R. made the bomb himself and had visited terrorism-related websites.

Sosiński said that what was most shocking was that Paweł R. planted the bomb near a stroller. He said that the nanny of the child in it, who alerted the bus's driver, and the driver who removed the bomb from the bus, prevented a more tragic incident.

Sosiński said Paweł R. wanted to harm many people and extort gold from the state.

The prosecution had said Paweł R. dialled an emergency number, claiming to have planted four bombs around Wrocław and that he would detonate them if he were not given 120 kilograms of gold.

Paweł R. later said he only planted one bomb.

Paweł R. allegedly planted a home-made explosive device on a bus on 19 May last year, which detonated after the driver took it off the bus, injuring a woman at a bus stop.

Experts told the court that Paweł R. had been insane at the time he planted the bomb on the bus, which Paweł R. said was chosen at random.

Last year, Polish media reported that Paweł R. said he struggling with depression in January 2016 when he made the decision to build a pressure-cooker bomb with metal screws affixed to its exterior. (vb)

Source: PAP

tags: crime
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