A Turkish man who brought Hamburg Airport to a standstill last year by taking his 4-year-old daughter hostage was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
The 35-year-old barricaded himself and the child in his car at the foot of a Turkish Airlines plane in November, demanding to be allowed to board in a dramatic custody dispute.
The incident led to the suspension of flights at the airport in northern Germany, with questions asked about how the man had been able to ram his car through the security area onto the apron where the plane was parked.
The suspect was found guilty of hostage taking, among other things, a spokeswoman for the regional court in Hamburg said.
Prosecutors said the man snatched his daughter from her mother’s home in the town of Stade on November 4.
He then drove to Hamburg Airport and rammed his car through the security area before calling emergency services and telling them he was armed with explosives.
He also threw two Molotov cocktails from the vehicle and fired several shots into the air.
The man finally gave himself up after a standoff lasting 18 hours and handed his daughter to the police unharmed.
Police later found that he also had a fake explosives belt and a knife.
The man had already been fined for kidnapping his daughter in March 2022 and taking her to Turkey. The mother recovered her there, according to the police.
The judges took into account the psychological impact of the ordeal on the child and her mother as well as the losses for Hamburg Airport, which had to close for several hours, the court spokeswoman said.