Cologne mayor stabbing: Man jailed and convicted

Henriette Reker was stabbed a day before being elected as mayor

A man who stabbed the Mayor of Cologne in the neck a day before she was elected has been convicted of attempted murder and jailed for 14 years.

A state court in Duesseldorf found 45-year-old, Frank S, tried to kill Henriette Reker for her welcoming stance to refugees. The attack came in October last year at the height of Germany's refugee influx while Ms Reker was head of refugee housing in Cologne.


It left Ms Reker seriously injured. Barbara Havliza, the presiding judge at Duesseldorf state court said: "He wanted to send a signal against the government's refugee policy. He wanted to create a climate of fear and influence politics.''

"He believed that the German government was not entitled to let refugees into the country,'' the judge added.