A man accused of shoving a boy and his mother in front of a moving train in Frankfurt in 2019, killing the child, on Wednesday apologised in court.
The man apologised through a statement that was submitted by his lawyer on the first day of his trial in the German city.
“I am deeply sorry, especially for the family,” the man said.
The boy was eight-years-old when he was hit by the incoming train in Frankfurt’s main train station in July 2019.
However, his death caused uproar across Germany.
The mother was able to escape injury by the whiskers.
The father of the boy refused to accept the man’s apology.
Ulrich Warncke, a lawyer representing the father, told newsmen during a break in the proceedings that her client does not accept the apology because “you do not apologize” for such cases.
According to a preliminary assessment of his mental health, the defendant, a 41-year-old Eritrean national who lived in Switzerland before leaving for Germany, is not criminally liable due to a psychological illness.
Therefore, he has not been charged and the prosecution was instead seeking to have him placed permanently in a psychiatric facility, reason being that he could commit further attacks.
Another woman, aged 78 at the time of the crime, was pushed to the ground by the attacker on the platform and suffered substantial injury.
The man fled the scene but was caught outside the station.
dpa/NAN.