Life sentence for Afghan man who drove car into Munich trade union march

Munich's Higher Regional Court has sentenced Farhad N., a 25-year-old Afghan national, to life imprisonment for deliberately driving a car into a trade union procession in the Bavarian capital in February 2025, killing a mother and her toddler and leaving more than 40 people injured, some critically.

Verdict and charges

Farhad N. was convicted of two counts of murder, multiple counts of attempted murder, and dangerous bodily harm. The court additionally found the particular gravity of guilt — a legal finding in German law that makes release on parole after the standard minimum of 15 years significantly more difficult to obtain.

The sentence matched the demand of the Federal Public Prosecutor. The defence had sought 15 years' imprisonment and placement in a psychiatric facility. The defendant showed little visible reaction as the verdict was read.

How the attack unfolded

The victims were a 37-year-old mother — an Algerian-born engineer employed by the city of Munich — and her two-year-old daughter, who were at the rear of the demonstration organised by the Verdi service workers' union. According to the presiding judge, the mother had deliberately chosen to stand near police vehicles at the back of the march for safety. Farhad N. drove past those police vehicles and then accelerated, striking the mother and child in the pushchair at 34 to 42 km/h. The toddler was flung into the air along with the pram.

The defendant left behind a field of rubble, the judge stated.

Background

Farhad N. arrived in Germany as a 15-year-old asylum seeker in 2016. The judge noted that many of the more than 40 injured survivors are still not fully recovered, and some continue to undergo surgery. The case is among a series of vehicle-ramming attacks that have struck European cities in recent years.