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Defendant at the start of the trial in February: According to witnesses, the girl continues to suffer from the health consequences

Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa

A father accused of attempted murder has admitted before the Hanover regional court that he injected his little daughter with mercury together with his then partner. But he did not intend to kill the one-and-a-half-year-old girl, the 30-year-old said on Thursday, according to a court spokeswoman. Rather, the crime was directed against the child's mother, with whom he had had a separation dispute. The man said he took the mercury from a thermometer and held his daughter while his then-partner drew up the syringe and injected the mercury.

The 30-year-old's 34-year-old former partner is also charged. The geriatric nurse and the paramedic are accused of joint attempted murder. The defendant's partial confession came as a surprise, said the court spokeswoman. At the beginning, both had denied the attempted murder. The 34-year-old did not comment on Thursday.

The girl's foot became infected

According to the public prosecutor's office, the couple is said to have injected mercury into the girl's left foot and right ankle via a cannula on July 24, 2023. That afternoon, the father was allowed to bring the child to him for an afternoon as part of the visitation rights. The little girl's foot became infected and the child developed a rash all over her body. The prosecutor said on the first day of the trial at the beginning of February that the mercury was only found by chance during the third surgical procedure. According to the prosecution, the child could only be saved through intensive medical treatment. As witnesses testified, the girl is still suffering from the health consequences today.

The public prosecutor's office sees the father as having low motives for murder. His intention was to inflict severe mental suffering on his divorced wife. Because of their training, both defendants knew that the poison was fatal and that death would only come after a long period of torment and pain. According to the public prosecutor's office, the man had already found out about opportunities to purchase mercury on the Internet at the beginning of 2023. In June, his new partner privately purchased a wall thermometer filled with mercury via an Internet platform.

Editor's note: An earlier version of the opening credits misstated the defendant's age. We have corrected the spot.

swe/dpa