Assailant jailed for 12 years for acid attack on German manager

A regional court in Wuppertal has convicted a man from Belgium of grievous bodily harm in a 2018 acid attack on a senior German manager and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, reported dpa.

The accused had protested his innocence throughout the trial and insisted he was not involved in the crime.

Two people threw highly concentrated acid at manager Bernhard Günther as he was jogging near his home near Dusseldorf on March 4, 2018. He was scarred in the attack. He chief financial officer of German energy company Innogy at the time.

Investigations against the second suspect, a German national, were dropped. The martial arts practitioner was released due to a lack of sufficient evidence, although Günther said he recognized him.

Günther, who is now 55 years old, has had multiple operations. His eyelids and parts of his facial skin had to be transplanted. He still faces many more surgical interventions.

The manager, who now works for Finnish energy company Fortum, told the court he hoped the investigation will not end with Thursday's verdict. Günther said he hoped investigators would find out who was behind the attack.