A young man, who was in a coma for nearly four years in Germany after his work lunch was poisoned by a colleague, has died, German media report. The 26-year-old ingested lead acetate and mercury after it was sprinkled on his sandwiches, resulting in severe brain damage.

Two of his colleagues were also targeted and suffered kidney damage. A man, named only as Klaus O, was found guilty of attempted murder last year and sentenced to life in prison. On Thursday, state prosecutor Veit Walter said a new trial could be ordered by Germany’s Supreme Court now that one of the victims had lost his life, the Bild newspaper reported.

The death was confirmed by a court in the city of Bielefeld, about 350km (218 miles) west of the German capital, Berlin. The case came to light in 2018 after a colleague at a metal fittings company in the town of Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, in north-western Germany, noticed a white powder on his lunch. (bbc)…[+]