A German court has sentenced a Saudi-born psychiatrist to life in prison for driving a rented BMW into a crowded Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and injuring hundreds more.

The defendant, identified only as Taleb A in line with German privacy laws, was found guilty of six counts of murder and hundreds of counts of attempted murder. Judges ruled that he deliberately turned his vehicle into a weapon, steering it through dense crowds at the historic market for just over a minute in what prosecutors described as a meticulously prepared attack.

Five women aged between 45 and 75 and a nine-year-old boy were killed as the car tore through wooden stalls and visitors. Survivors described scenes of chaos, with families diving for cover and first responders struggling to reach the injured amid splintered booths and debris.

Prosecutors argued that the assault was driven by a mix of personal grievance and extremist views. They said the psychiatrist, who had lived in Germany for years, had developed deep resentment over the outcome of a civil law dispute and a series of failed criminal complaints he had filed. Investigators also cited a record of anti-Islamic rhetoric and far-right sympathies, an unusual profile for a man of Saudi origin that drew intense public scrutiny.

The court heard that he had scouted the market area and planned the route weeks in advance, choosing a time when the square would be at its busiest. There was no evidence of direct ties to an organized terrorist group, but the method and symbolism of the attack revived painful memories of previous vehicle assaults in Europe.

The rampage shocked Germany and immediately fed into a heated national debate over migration, integration and security. Coming in the run-up to a closely watched federal election, the case was seized upon by political parties across the spectrum, some warning against stigmatizing foreigners, others demanding tougher controls and faster deportations for offenders.

In delivering the sentence, the presiding judge called the crime “an attack on the very idea of peaceful public life,” stressing the enduring trauma for victims and witnesses. The life term, Germany’s harshest penalty, leaves open the possibility that the court could later impose a special finding of continued dangerousness, effectively preventing release.