The Austrian man had plans to target fans with knives or homemade explosives outside the Ernst Happel Stadium
An Austrian court has convicted a man of plotting a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.
The state court in Wiener Neustadt found the 21 year old defendant, an Austrian national known only as Beran A under Austrian privacy laws, guilty on charges including those linked to the concert plot, according to the Austria Press Agency.
His defence solicitor confirmed he admitted to the charges relating to the concert conspiracy on the opening day of his trial last month. He has been jailed for 15 years for the offences.
Despite the plot being thwarted, Austrian authorities were forced to cancel Swift’s three scheduled performances in the country, which had been set for August 2024, reports the Mirror.
Before the court retired to deliberate on Thursday, Beran A offered brief closing remarks, stating: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
The court was told that Beran A had planned to target concertgoers outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives or homemade explosives. Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift devotees, known as Swifties, had travelled to Austria to attend the shows on the American superstar’s record-breaking Eras Tour.
Devastated by the cancellations, scores of fans gathered in the centre of Vienna to exchange friendship bracelets and commiserate over the scrapped performances.
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