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Swedish court deports man who threatened to blow up Malmö train station

A man who threatened to blow up Malmö central station is to be deported from Sweden after his actions made bystanders fear for their lives, ruled the court on Wednesday.

Swedish court deports man who threatened to blow up Malmö train station
The incident sparked a large police operation. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The 44-year-old man, an Italian citizen, was shot and apprehended by police on June 10th at Malmö's main train station, after he claimed to be carrying a bomb, prompting an evacuation of the station. It later turned out his bag did not contain either weapons or explosive material.

However, the threats were “similar to those terror crimes that have been committed in Sweden and other countries in recent years”, read the court judgment seen by The Local.

It noted that several of the victims had experienced “death anxiety”, and found the man guilty of making gross illegal threats and violence against a public servant.

During the trial, the man apologized for what had happened.

Swedish public broadcaster SVT quoted him as telling the court: “I've had a normal life up until this happened. I have been in Sweden for a year. I had a job and never thought this would happen.”

The court heard that the man had broken up with his girlfriend a few days earlier, and that he was sick with fever at the time.

He told the trial his memory of the events was “hazy” and that he had become convinced he was being followed by a shadowy group of men.

A psychiatric examination showed that the man was seriously mentally ill at the time, but that he was no longer suffering from a psychiatric disorder.

For those reasons, the court said that the crime, despite being described as “serious”, did not warrant a jail sentence, but that there was also no reason to sentence him to psychiatric care.

It instead handed him a suspended sentence and ruled that the man be deported from Sweden and banned from returning for five years. He was also ordered to pay in total 100,000 kronor ($10,400) in damages to the victims.

Member comments

  1. Italian citizen? Name please. A lot is being left out of this story, especially in light of the number of bombings lately.

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