Victim, 26, had been in coma after being poisoned by co-worker, jailed for life last year

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

A man in Germany has died four years after being poisoned by a colleague and falling into a coma.

The state court in Bielefeld, which convicted the man behind the poisoning last year, confirmed the death on Thursday, the German news agency dpa reported. The 26-year-old victim’s parents had spoken about his suffering during a trial last year.

A 57-year-old man, identified only as Klaus O for privacy reasons, was sentenced to life in prison last March after the court found him guilty of attempted murder.

Klaus O, who is appealing against the verdict, peppered co-workers’ food with mercury and other substances over several years, leaving one in a coma and two others with serious kidney damage.

He was arrested in May 2018 after surveillance footage showed him putting powder in a colleague’s sandwich at their workplace in the town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock.