![German dispatcher jailed for fatal train crash](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/12/_2/740x404/pic_1480952328.jpg)
German Dispatcher Jailed For Fatal Train Crash
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published December 05, 2016 | 07:15 PM
![German dispatcher jailed for fatal train crash](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/12/_2/740x404/pic_1480952328.jpg)
TRAUNSTEIN, Germany, Dec 5, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 05th Dec, 2016 ) - A German court Monday sentenced a rail dispatcher to three-and-a-half-years in prison over a train crash that killed 12 people as he was playing a mobile phone game while on duty.
Michael Paul, 40, had admitted his guilt last month at the start of the trial over the February accident near the southern town of Bad Aibling, in which two commuter trains collided head-on at high speed.
"The accused is guilty of 12 counts of involuntary manslaughter and 85 counts of negligent bodily harm," presiding judge Erich Fuchs said as he read out the verdict following one of Germany's worst train crashes in decades.
As the trial opened, Paul had his lawyers read out his confession in which he admitted to negligence, but also addressed victims' relatives personally. "I know that I cannot undo what has happened, even if I wish I could," he told them.
His lawyers said Paul admitted to playing a mobile phone game on duty, even though this was banned by the railway operators. He ended up setting the wrong train signals, and although he had a chance to prevent the head-on crash through an emergency call placed to the train drivers, he dialled the wrong number, said his lawyer.
The accident was Germany's first fatal train crash since April 2012, when three people were killed and 13 injured in a collision between two regional trains in the western city of Offenbach. The country's deadliest post-war rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed ICE train linking Munich and Hamburg derailed in the northern town of Eschede, killing 101 people and injuring 88.
Authorities said after the Bad Aibling disaster that an investigation had ruled out a technical defect as the cause.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
![Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019914.jpg)
Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard
![Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on refor ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019922.jpg)
Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on reform agenda, engagement with IMF
![Finland says Russian vessel violated its territori ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019912.jpg)
Finland says Russian vessel violated its territorial waters
![Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019266.jpg)
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
![West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019264.jpg)
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
![Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murde ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019262.jpg)
Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murder of nationalist ex-MP
![Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris ope ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019015.jpg)
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
![Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inau ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019638.jpg)
Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inauguration reception
![Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Z ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019637.jpg)
Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Zardari at Governor's House
![Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019635.jpg)
Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympic coach sent home: official
![Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019013.jpg)
Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fighting against SL
!['Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019634.jpg)
'Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: What we know
More Stories From World
-
Biden talks Gaza ceasefire efforts with king of Jordan
4 hours ago -
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
4 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked ex-presidents going to observe polls
4 hours ago -
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
5 hours ago -
Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN
5 hours ago -
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
5 hours ago
-
Obama & his wife, Michelle, officially endorse US VP Kamala Harris for president
5 hours ago -
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
5 hours ago -
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
5 hours ago -
S.African police detain 95 Libyans at suspected military camp
5 hours ago -
'Slapping therapist' guilty over UK diabetic woman's death
6 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked flight of ex-presidents going to observe polls
6 hours ago