Child killer loses human rights claim

A GERMAN child-killer yesterday lost his claim that police violated his human rights by threatening him with violence to discover his victim’s body.

Magnus Gaefgen, 33, is serving life for the abduction and murder of the 11-year-old boy in Frankfurt in September 2002.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that while Gaefgen experienced what could be described as inhumane treatment during the investigation, when an officer was ordered to threaten him with violence to get him to say where the boy’s body was, German courts had already addressed the issue.

The court also ruled that Gaefgen can no longer claim victim status.

It also said his rights were not violated during the trial, because no evidence gained as a result of the threat was used.

German courts had excluded such evidence and based their conviction on a separate confession by Gaefgen and other evidence.

Gaefgen’s lawyer said he would consider appealing against the judgement.

In a case that shocked Germany, Gaefgen — then a law student — lured the boy into his apartment, suffocated him and demanded £700,000 from the child’s wealthy parents if they wanted to see the boy again.

Gaefgen was arrested several hours later after collecting the ransom at a train station.

Believing the boy could still be alive, former Frankfurt deputy police chief Wolfgang Daschner ordered an officer to threaten Gaefgen with violence if he did not say where he hid the boy.

Gaefgen then revealed where the body was.