New Year’s Day fire at city centre hotel: 42-year-old points the finger at co-defendant

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A father of three is alleged to have started a fire in a hotel in Leipzig city centre on New Year’s Eve, putting seven people’s lives at risk. However, on the second day of the trial at the Regional Court, 42-year-old Thomas B. admitted to a number of other offences – but on Monday, when it came to the main charge of seven counts of attempted murder, he shifted the suspicion onto his co-defendant.

He is the father of three children, claims to have had a drug problem since the age of 13, and is alleged to have started a fire in a hotel on Nikolaistraße in Leipzig on the night of 1 January 2026, putting seven people in mortal danger. On the second day of the trial at Leipzig Regional Court, the main defendant, Thomas B., denied this most serious of the eleven charges: he claimed he had not committed seven counts of attempted murder.

His co-defendant Tobias N. (26), whom the prosecution classifies as a passive bystander, had expressed a desire to set things alight and cause destruction, Thomas B. stated through his defence lawyer.

According to the prosecution, he wanted to make it impossible to escape the fire

It was around 1.00 am on New Year’s Day 2026 when the smoke alarm went off at the city-centre accommodation. It was only thanks to this and the rapid intervention of the fire brigade that seven hotel guests, who were in immediate danger, could be rescued, according to the prosecution. According to prosecutor Moritz Diekmann, Thomas B. (42) and Tobias N. (26), together with two other individuals, are said to have entered the hotel through a rear entrance on the night in question.

Thomas B. then allegedly took fire extinguishers from two floors, blocked fire doors and deliberately positioned laundry trolleys to seal off the potential escape route.

The 42-year-old is then alleged to have daubed walls and doors with a felt-tip pen and finally set items of laundry alight, which led to a significant build-up of smoke: his intention was to expose people to this danger and make their escape impossible, according to the prosecutor. The fact that it ended without serious consequences was apparently pure luck. According to preliminary estimates, the damage to property is said to amount to 43,842 euros.

Main defendant denies involvement

On Monday, Thomas B. denied any responsibility for the incident: according to his statement, he was first at the main railway station on New Year’s Eve and had then walked into the city centre to watch the fireworks. At the hotel on Nikolaistraße, it was Tobias N. who suddenly expressed a desire to start a fire. The older of the two men insisted he had done nothing else – and with his version of events, he turned the allocation of roles, as previously assumed by the prosecution, on its head.

According to the investigators, Tobias N. was merely standing guard and watching, which is why he is charged only with failure to render assistance. The homeless man had not yet appeared at the first court hearing but has since been located. He made no comment on Monday regarding the fact that Thomas B. was now shifting the blame onto him. According to his lawyer, Giulia Borsalino, her client may wish to give evidence at a later date.

Threatening phone call from prison targeting murder witnesses

In addition to seven counts of attempted murder and aggravated arson, the prosecution has charged Thomas B. with, amongst other things, intentional bodily harm, insult, criminal damage and making threats. The man, who, by his own account, worked on a building site and consumed cannabis daily, is alleged to have attacked and assaulted people, damaged a woman’s mobile phone, insulted another via text messages and committed minor arson offences between mid-November 2025 and early February 2026.

Thomas B. admitted to some of these offences. This includes a threat made during a high-profile murder trial: according to the indictment, Thomas B. rang a man from pre-trial detention at the end of March 2026 and, whilst the man was already traumatised, struck fear into him by threatening that he’d be better off not opening the door if the doorbell rang twice. The man in question was the main witness and eyewitness in the trial against Nick W. from Leipzig, who has since been convicted of the murder of his ex-partner. Thomas B. insisted that the call was only meant as a joke.

Hotel guest describes psychological distress

The experience of the fire was anything but a joke for the hotel’s guests and staff, the first of whom were heard as witnesses on Monday. They described the terror that coursed through their bodies.

A 59-year-old hotel guest, who was evacuated with the others to Nikolaistraße and received medical treatment, continued to suffer psychologically for a long time after learning that the fire was believed to have been a deliberate attack: “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” the man told the court.

The First Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Johann Jagenlauf, has scheduled a large number of further court hearings until the end of October.