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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Cologne sex attack charge dismissed | Cologne sex attack charge dismissed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A judge in the German city of Cologne has dismissed sexual assault charges against an Algerian man, in the first case over a wave of New Year attacks. | A judge in the German city of Cologne has dismissed sexual assault charges against an Algerian man, in the first case over a wave of New Year attacks. |
| A court spokesman told the BBC "it could not be proven" that the 26-year-old took part in the sexual assault. | A court spokesman told the BBC "it could not be proven" that the 26-year-old took part in the sexual assault. |
| He and a fellow Algerian, 23, were convicted of lesser charges and given six month suspended sentences. | |
| The large-scale sexual assaults and robberies by men of North African and Arab appearance shocked Germany. | The large-scale sexual assaults and robberies by men of North African and Arab appearance shocked Germany. |
| More than 1,000 criminal complaints were filed, hundreds of them alleging sexual assault, after women reported being surrounded by groups of men in and around Cologne's main station. | |
| More on the Cologne attacks | |
| Spotlight on Germany's N African migrants | |
| Women describe 'terrible' assaults | |
| Attacks' profound impact on Europe | |
| Germans left feeling vulnerable | |
| The events in Cologne heightened tensions in the country over the large influx of refugee and migrants - 1.1m people arrived in Germany in 2015, some, but by no means all, fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq. | |
| The head of the police inquiry, Detective Superintendent Thomas Schulter, told the BBC that 159 suspects had been investigated in connection with the attacks, about two-thirds of them Algerian or Moroccan nations. | |
| The two men in court on Friday were convicted of handling stolen goods, relating to the mobile phone of a victim which was found on one of them, and breaking into a car on a separate occasion. | |
| The victim in Friday's case was not able to say with certainty in court that either man was involved in the assaults on her, according to German media reports. | |
| Both men are currently in detention awaiting deportation from Germany, the court spokesman said. | |
| Friday's convictions bring to 11 the number convicted on theft or similar charges in relation to the Cologne attacks. |