A court in Zweibrücken, western Germany, sentenced a 26-year-old man to 10 years in prison on Thursday for the fatal assault of a train conductor during a ticket inspection in February. The defendant, a Greek national, struck the 36-year-old conductor repeatedly in the head after being found without a ticket, causing a brain haemorrhage that led to the victim’s death two days later. The chamber convicted him of bodily harm resulting in death, rejecting calls from the victim’s family and state prosecutors for a murder or manslaughter verdict. The family’s lawyer, Yalçın Tekinoğlu, announced an immediate appeal to the Federal Court of Justice, describing the ruling as a “fifth blow” to the relatives, who boycotted the sentencing hearing.

The case has accelerated security policy responses in both Germany and Switzerland. National railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it would equip conductors and on-board restaurant staff with body cameras, while a security manager for DB Regio Mitte testified during the trial that assaults on staff are rising in “quantity and quality,” with 231 bodily-harm offences recorded in his area in 2025. In Switzerland, the Federal Office of Transport convened a roundtable with transport companies, police, and unions this week and is drafting rule changes to permit transport police to carry tasers and to expand real-time video surveillance. The Swiss transport workers’ union SEV welcomed the taser proposal, arguing it allows targeted incapacitation of aggressors without affecting bystanders, but Amnesty International’s Swiss section warned that such weapons should remain restricted to specialist units.

In a separate ruling the same week, a Berlin court sentenced a 41-year-old palliative care physician, identified as Johannes M., to life imprisonment for murdering 15 patients in their homes between 2021 and 2024. The court found he injected victims, aged 25 to 94, with lethal combinations of anaesthetics and muscle relaxants without their consent, and in at least two cases set fire to apartments to destroy evidence. Judges stated the killings were driven not by compassion but by a desire to exert power. Prosecutors are investigating more than 70 additional deaths linked to the doctor, who worked for a home-care service that alerted police after noticing an unusual pattern of fatalities.

Viewed from Berlin, the two verdicts arrive amid broader societal concern over violence and institutional trust. The train attack, captured on silent surveillance video, showed the conductor attempting to de-escalate before being struck, and has prompted German politicians to call for a national action plan. The Swiss transport ministry says no final decisions have been taken, but the working group on tasers and bodycams is expected to deliver recommendations in the coming months. The SEV plans a national day of action on 3 September to press for uniform statistics on attacks and stronger protective measures.