An Austrian man who admittedplotting a jihadist attack targeting one of Taylor Swift's sold-out Eras Tour concerts in Viennahas been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a court found him guilty of terrorism-related offences.
The case centred on afoiled attackthat authorities said could have caused mass casualties among the tens of thousands of fans expected to gather at and around Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium in August 2024. Before judges retired to consider their verdict, the 21-year-old defendant, identified only as 'Beran A' under Austrian privacy laws, issued a brief apology.
'I would just like to say that I am sorry,' he told the court following closing arguments on Thursday, 28 May 2026.
Beran A was convicted by a court in Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna, after admitting his involvement in planning the attack. He had been charged with terrorist offences and membership of a terrorist organisation after investigators linked him to Islamic State-inspired extremist activities.
'I would just like to say that I am sorry,' — Beran A
His defence lawyer, Anna Mair, told the court that her client deeply regretted his actions and viewed the plot as 'the biggest mistake of his life'. She argued that he was not an ideological leader but a young man who had become radicalised online.
Prosecutors, however, said the defendant had actively embraced extremist ideology, sworn allegiance to Islamic State and taken concrete steps towards carrying out an attack. The court ultimately agreed and imposed a 15-year prison sentence, although he had faced a potential maximum sentence of 20 years.
A court-appointed psychiatrist, Peter Hoffmann, testified that there was 'no psychiatric explanation' for Beran A's radicalisation and found no evidence of mental illness.
Investigators revealed that Beran A had attempted to acquire weapons illegally in the lead-up to the concerts, including a machine gun and a hand grenade, but failed to complete the purchases.
Prosecutors also said he followed instructions from an Islamic State propaganda video titled 'Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom' and succeeded in producing a small quantity of the highly volatile explosive triacetone triperoxide, commonly known as TATP.
Source: International Business Times UK
