Killer of 'good Samaritan' Tugce Albayrak can be deported rules German court

A court in Germany has ruled that the man found guilty of the death of student Tugce Albayrak can be deported back to his home country.

The Hessian Administrative Court on Tuesday 14 March approved the deportation of Sanel M. back to his home country of Serbia. The court ruled that M. can be immediately deported.

Sanel M. was convicted for causing grievous bodily harm with fatal consequences after he hit Albayrak, aged 22, in a McDonald's car park in Offenbach in 2014.

Albayrak had come to the defence of two teenage girls who were being harassed by M. after which he struck her.

The blow caused her to fall and hit her head on the asphalt. This impact is thought to have caused her fatal brain hemorrhage. M. had just turned 18 when the incident occurred. He avoided a longer sentence after the judge ruled that he never intended to kill Albayrak.

The decision would lie with the city and district court in Wiesbaden, where he is currently detained, on whether he will see out the rest of his three-year sentence or be deported sooner, the judge said.

Albayrak was in a coma for two weeks after she was hit by M and died after her parents took her off life-support on her 23rd birthday. The case led to an outpouring of grief across Germany, with people holding candlelight vigils and rallies outside her hospital.

At the time of the incident, Germany's President Joachim Gauck called her a role model and said that she had shown "exemplary courage and moral fortitude."