A German court on Wednesday sentenced a stateless man of Palestinian origin to life in prison over a knife attack on a train that claimed two teenagers' lives.

The accused, named by the court only as Ibrahim A, 34, had gone on a stabbing spree in January 2023 on a train travelling between the northern cities of Kiel and Hamburg.

A 17-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man who were acquainted with each other were killed in the attack and five people were wounded.

Given the severity of the crime, the court, in its verdict also ruled out any early release usually offered after 15 years' imprisonment for life sentences.

Presiding judge Johann Lohmann described the attack as an "extraordinarily shocking crime".

As well as being convicted for the two killings, the accused was convicted of three counts of attempted murder.

The defence had tried to argue that A. suffered from psychological problems, but an expert found no impairment that would limit his responsibility.

The accused, of no fixed abode, had only recently been released from prison over a separate assault when he launched the train rampage.

Passengers overpowered and restrained him until police detained him at a railway station in the town of Brokstedt.

He arrived in Germany in 2014 and had several previous convictions, including for violent crimes, dating back to 2015.