German Court Cracks Down: Record Sentences for ATM Bombers in Landmark Trial

The verdict was handed down last Thursday. The main defendant was sentenced to thirteen years and nine months in prison. The five other co-defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five years to just over ten years. "For far too long, the destruction of ATMs has been punished too lightly," said the presiding judge Jörn Immerschmitt in the grounds of the judgment.

This is a historic trial. Indeed, it is the first time that a public prosecutor has accused a group of this type of attempted murder. "The explosions of ATMs, such as the one that occurred in June 2023 in Fechenheim, were sometimes so powerful that the perpetrators would have knowingly accepted the risk of endangering the lives of uninvolved persons," it is explained.

These severe sentences pronounced in Germany against the destroyers of automatic teller machines are also explained by the other acts with which they were charged, in particular the manufacture of explosives and the degradation of property in particularly serious cases, but also the sometimes significant criminal records of the accused. According to sources, one of them had participated in a new explosion of an ATM only seven months after serving a long prison sentence, while he was still on probation. "You would have committed other acts," the presiding judge was convinced.

These convictions are also justified by the colossal extent of the damage caused by the co-defendants. In Fechenheim, the damage to the building, and especially to the bank’s equipment, amounted to 580,000 euros, it is specified. However, from 1,500 euros of damage, the law considers the damage to be significant, emphasized Judge Immerschmitt.