When truck driver Günther W. was sacked by his haulier employer in 2008 after an altercation with another driver, he heeded the old adage of don't get mad, get even.

Over the next five years he got more than even. Journeying around the country, he smashed up offices and set fire to numerous trucks owned by his old company, causing damage estimated at €3.5 million. 

He also sent threatening letters to company bosses, adding further accusations of coercion to the charge sheet at his eventual trial.

He acted with "high criminal energy" and should receive a suitably tough sentence, state prosecutors told the Nuremberg-Furth district court, Die Welt newspaper reported.

His most devastating strike was at a company depot in Rheine, North-Rhine Westphalia, where he incinerated 14 trucks in November 2013.

The loss of these vehicles, which he set alight using fuel-soaked rags and firelighters, was valued at €1 million .

But he also sealed his own fate by leaving DNA traces at many of the crime scenes, cutting himself and leaving blood trails. 

Over a period of five years the man shot some 700 bullets from home-made firearms at other road users who he felt had cut him up or otherwise hampered him while driving.

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