First conviction in connection with Cologne NYE disturbances

A Moroccan man has been given a six-month suspended sentence for stealing a camera and mobile phone and possessing drugs in Cologne.

He is first person to be convicted in connection with the series of New Year's Eve crimes in the German city.

The 23-year-old asylum seeker also was fined €100 by the Cologne district court.

The defendant stole a mobile phone from a woman as she photographed the city's cathedral.

The 20-year-old did not see who had stolen the phone but caught him after an Afghan refugee who had witnessed the theft pointed him out.

The man apologised to her at today's brief trial.

Police found a small quantity of amphetamines in one of the man's socks after he was arrested.

The spate of reported thefts and assaults on women outside Cologne's main station caused public uproar as Germany deals with a huge influx of refugees.

More than 1,000 criminal complaints were filed, more than 400 of those alleging crimes of a sexual nature.

Neither of the two trials scheduled in Cologne today involves allegations of sexual assaults.

In a separate case being heard later in the day, a 22-year-old Tunisian and an 18-year-old Moroccan are charged with stealing a camera from a man.

Their names have not been released, in accordance with German privacy laws.