Tugce Albayrak: Sanel M jailed for 3 years for killing 'good Samaritan' German student

A man has been sentenced for the death of a German student who was hit in the head outside a McDonald's restaurant just outside Frankfurt.

Tugce Albayrak, 23, of Turkish origin, died last November after being punched in the head in the fast food chain's car park in the German town of Offenbach.

She fell into a coma after being attacked when she came to the aid of two teenage girls during a fight in an incident which shook the country.

Albayrak came to the assistance of the two girls after getting into an argument with three boys inside the McDonald's branch.

The boys involved in the dispute left the building and waited for Albayrak outside. When the student eventually left the premises, an 18-year-old identified only as Sanel M punched her in the side of the head.

Albayrak then fell and hit her head on the pavement before slipping into a coma. She died a couple of weeks later on her birthday after her parents gave doctors permission to take her off life support after she was pronounced brain dead.

The Darmstadt regional court has now sentenced Sanel M to three years and three months in a juvenile detention centre for causing grievous bodily harm leading to death.

Following her death, Albayrak was hailed a national hero in Germany for standing up for the teenage girls.

More than 1,000 people attended her funeral service in the small German town of Wächtersbach, with candlelight vigils held in her honour across the country taking place in the days following her death.

An online petition urging her to posthumously receive the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) received more than 300,000 signatures. Her country of origin also paid respects to the 23-year-old following her death.

"I wish to God that our daughter Tugce rests in peace," said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. "She showed great heroism and made a place in the hearts of the German public."