A 15-year-old has been sentenced to eight years and six months in secure detention for murder after fatally shooting a fellow pupil in the head at a school in southern Germany.

The Würzburg Regional Court ruled on Monday that the teenager murdered the 14-year-old in the Bavarian town of Lohr am Main in September 2023, a court spokeswoman announced.

The maximum juvenile sentence for murder is 10 years.

The court rejected a defence plea of manslaughter because the fatal shot to the head had come from behind.

The 15-year-old German killed a 14-year-old Italian boy with a single shot from a pistol on the grounds of a school in Lohr am Main, in the northern part of Bavaria.

He confessed that he had carried out the killing at the beginning of the trial. However, he testified that the shot was not intentional.

Before being sentenced, the 15-year-old apologised to the bereaved parents and said that he was incredibly sorry for everything.

The public prosecutor nevertheless demanded a juvenile sentence of eight years and nine months for murder.

The prosecution also requested that the 15-year-old be placed in a social therapy centre.

The two boys went to the same secondary school; the murder weapon belonged to a 66-year-old man who lived in the same house as the accused.

Under German law, trials of juveniles are held behind closed doors.

(dpa/NAN)