WUPPERTAL (dpa-AFX) - The Wuppertal Regional Court has awarded former Innogy manager Bernhard Günther 250,000 euros in compensation for the acid attack on him. The decision is already legally binding after the expiry of the appeal period, the court announced on Friday.

The claim is against a 43-year-old Belgian man who had been sentenced to twelve years in prison for the attack.

Günther (56), former CFO of the then RWE subsidiary Innogy, had been attacked by two men on March 4, 2018, near his home in Haan after jogging on a footpath, doused with highly concentrated sulfuric acid and severely burned. He had still been able to drag himself home and rinse some of the acid from his body with water. Günther's life was in danger for a time and he had to undergo several operations. Parts of his face, especially around the eyes, had been burned. His eyesight could be saved.

In the meantime, the public prosecutor's office has also charged a second alleged acid attacker. No decision has yet been made on whether to allow the 36-year-old to be charged.

At the time of the attack, the takeover of Innogy by Eon was imminent. Günther suspects that the person who ordered the acid attack was someone in his professional environment at the time who wanted to eliminate him as a competitor.

After the arrest of the 36-year-old Serbian, Günther and his lawyer expressed the hope that the person who ordered the attack could now also be identified./fc/DP/ngu