German teenagers on trial for 'hero' killing

Two German teenagers went on trial today accused of beating a 50-year-old man to death because he tried to protect a group of younger boys from them, in a case that shocked the country.

Sebastian Leibinger, 18, and Markus Schiller, 19, are in the dock for the murder of business executive Dominik Brunner after a confrontation on a regional train in the southern city of Munich last September.

Prosecutors say the two teenagers, aged 17 and 18 at the time, tried to bully a group of four younger boys into handing over 15 euros (19 dollars) and punched one of the children.

When Brunner saw the altercation, he confronted the assailants, offered to exit the train with the frightened boys, aged 13 to 15, at the next station and alerted the police on his mobile phone.

Authorities say Leibinger and Schiller followed the group off the train and began punching and kicking Brunner. They allegedly inflicted more than 40 blows and Brunner bled to death on the platform.

The case triggered an outpouring of rage and sorrow across the country, as the media mourned Brunner as a fallen hero and then president Horst Koehler posthumously awarded Brunner the Federal Cross of Merit for civil courage.

"I lost you because you would not look away," Brunner's girlfriend wrote in an eulogy.

As the trial began, the older defendant Schiller admitted attacking Brunner but said the 50-year-old had started the fight.

"I know that what I did cannot be excused and that my reaction was absolutely wrong," he said. "I am so sorry for the death of Mr Brunner I cannot describe it."

He said Brunner had provoked him and that he "must have just lost control".

The defence argued that Brunner struck first, which would mean that the two defendants would be guilty of manslaughter and not murder if convicted.

The trial is due to run until the end of the month. If convicted of murder, Schiller could face life imprisonment. Because he was a minor at the time, Leibinger faces a maximum of 10 years in jail.