An Austrian court has found a man guilty of plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna before he was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
The state court in Wiener Neustadt convicted the 21-yea- old defendant, an Austrian national identified only as Beran A under Austrian privacy laws, on charges including those connected 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.
Although the plot was foiled, Austrian authorities cancelled Swift’s three scheduled performances in the country scheduled for August 2024.
In brief closing remarks to the court before it retired to deliberate on a verdict on Thursday, Beran A said: “I would just like to say that I am sorry.”
View 2 ImagesThe man behind a terror attack plot at a Taylor Swift concert has been found guilty(Image: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
The court heard that Beran A had intended to target concertgoers outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives or homemade explosives.
Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift devotees, known as Swifties, had made their way to Austria to attend the shows on the American superstar’s record-breaking Eras Tour.
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Left heartbroken by the cancellations, many fans congregated in the heart of Vienna to swap friendship bracelets and share their disappointment over the scrapped gigs.