Man on trial over Malmö bomb threat 'felt he was being pursued'
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 2 Aug, 2019 CET.
Updated: Fri 2 Aug 2019 10:23 CET
The 44-year-old man who threatened to detonate a bomb at Malmö's Central Station denied guilt on his first day in court, claiming he had been suffering paranoid delusions.
"He is making a strong denial, not of the circumstances or the sequence of events, but of his responsibility," the man's lawyer Soroush Shahram told Malmö District Court on Thursday. "His intent was never to scare anyone."
The man was shot in the leg by police and taken to hospital after he brought Malmö Central Station to a halt on June 10th, by screaming that he had a bomb and a pistol.
According to Shahram, the man became overcome with delusions while he was at Triangeln station on his way to Copenhagen Airport, and had suddenly leaped on a train in the other direction, getting off at Malmö Central.
"Once he got to Malmö C, my client no longer remembers that much," he said, according to Swedish public broadcaster SVT. "But he remembers that he felt he was being pursued even there."
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The prosecutor in the case, Tomas Olvmyr, showed the court how the man had then gone into a shop in the station and begun to issue threats. When a security guard arrived, he told him in English that he was carrying a bomb.
"I want this shit to go to the newspaper. I have a bomb," he said in footage captured by the guard's camera. "I'm not fucking joking."
The guard appeared to be succeeding in calming the man down, but then the police arrived with weapons drawn, at which point the man went into a panic, screaming, "I'm going to fucking blow you up!".
He was shot three times, but still continued trying to run away until police physically pinned him down.
A preliminary psychiatric examination found that the man was suffering from severe mental disturbance, both at the time and afterwards, when he attacked two guards at a pre-trial detention centre. Under Swedish law, however, suffering a psychotic episode is not in itself enough to exonerate a defendant.
"From what I understand, the man was not well, but that does not mean you can behave in any way you like," Olvmyr said.
The 44-year-old is scheduled to himself speak in court on Monday.
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"He is making a strong denial, not of the circumstances or the sequence of events, but of his responsibility," the man's lawyer Soroush Shahram told Malmö District Court on Thursday. "His intent was never to scare anyone."
The man was shot in the leg by police and taken to hospital after he brought Malmö Central Station to a halt on June 10th, by screaming that he had a bomb and a pistol.
According to Shahram, the man became overcome with delusions while he was at Triangeln station on his way to Copenhagen Airport, and had suddenly leaped on a train in the other direction, getting off at Malmö Central.
"Once he got to Malmö C, my client no longer remembers that much," he said, according to Swedish public broadcaster SVT. "But he remembers that he felt he was being pursued even there."
READ ALSO:
The prosecutor in the case, Tomas Olvmyr, showed the court how the man had then gone into a shop in the station and begun to issue threats. When a security guard arrived, he told him in English that he was carrying a bomb.
"I want this shit to go to the newspaper. I have a bomb," he said in footage captured by the guard's camera. "I'm not fucking joking."
The guard appeared to be succeeding in calming the man down, but then the police arrived with weapons drawn, at which point the man went into a panic, screaming, "I'm going to fucking blow you up!".
He was shot three times, but still continued trying to run away until police physically pinned him down.
A preliminary psychiatric examination found that the man was suffering from severe mental disturbance, both at the time and afterwards, when he attacked two guards at a pre-trial detention centre. Under Swedish law, however, suffering a psychotic episode is not in itself enough to exonerate a defendant.
"From what I understand, the man was not well, but that does not mean you can behave in any way you like," Olvmyr said.
The 44-year-old is scheduled to himself speak in court on Monday.
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