A Saudi doctor who turned a festive German Christmas market into a scene of horror has been sentenced to life in prison after killing six people and injuring hundreds more in a shocking car-ramming attack.

Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, 51, was convicted in the deadly 2024 rampage in Magdeburg, Germany, where prosecutors said he deliberately drove a rented BMW SUV into crowds of holiday shoppers at the city’s packed Christmas market.

The attack killed five women between the ages of 45 and 75, along with a 9-year-old boy. More than 300 others were injured.

On Friday, a court in Magdeburg ruled that the crime was of “particular severity,” a designation that makes it far more difficult for Abdulmohsen to ever be released from prison.

The horrific attack stunned Germany and fueled an already explosive debate over immigration just months before the country’s general election in February 2025.

Abdulmohsen, a psychiatrist originally from Saudi Arabia, had lived in Germany since 2006. Officials said he had a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric and far-right sympathies, including apparent support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, known as AfD.

During his months-long trial, Abdulmohsen admitted he drove the vehicle through the market, but denied that he intentionally ran people over.

Prosecutors did not buy it.

They charged him with six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder, saying the attack lasted just one minute and four seconds but had been planned for weeks.

According to the indictment, Abdulmohsen drove a rented BMW X3 compact SUV, with more than 340 horsepower, through the crowded historic market square on December 20, 2024. He allegedly reached speeds of nearly 30 mph during the rampage.

The vehicle was badly damaged by the time he was arrested after emerging from it.

Prosecutors said the motive appeared to be revenge.

They argued Abdulmohsen was furious over a legal dispute involving a Cologne-based refugee organization. He had lost a civil case against the group and had filed several unsuccessful criminal complaints, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutor Matthias Boettcher said the attack “defies human comprehension” and left victims’ families with “simply indescribable” suffering.

He also told the court Abdulmohsen showed “no remorse, regret or introspection whatsoever” during the proceedings.

A psychiatric expert diagnosed Abdulmohsen with narcissistic personality disorder, but found that he was fully criminally responsible for his actions and remains dangerous.

The case was so massive that authorities had to build a temporary courtroom on the outskirts of Magdeburg to handle the hundreds of victims, relatives, lawyers and witnesses involved.

More than 100 witnesses testified, while roughly 40 lawyers represented around 200 civil parties.

Thomas Klaus, an attorney representing more than 100 victims and relatives, said before the verdict that Abdulmohsen was expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The trial was also marked by Abdulmohsen’s bizarre and at times incoherent courtroom behavior. His testimony reportedly included conspiracy theories and fringe far-right ideas.

At one point, he staged a hunger strike, forcing the court to continue parts of the trial without him present.

Investigators said Abdulmohsen had previous run-ins with authorities and had been fined in the past for making threats of criminal violence.

In the aftermath of the attack, Germany was left shaken by yet another deadly vehicle assault. While the method of the attack initially raised fears of jihadist terrorism, investigators later said Abdulmohsen’s background pointed to a very different motive, rooted in anti-Islam views, far-right ideology and personal grievance.

One year later, Magdeburg’s Christmas market reopened under heavy security, with concrete barriers and armed police guarding the square where families had once gathered for holiday cheer before the nightmare unfolded.

For the families of the six people killed, Friday’s sentence brings an end to the trial, but not to the grief left behind by one of Germany’s most horrifying recent attacks.