Teen On Trial: 'I Never Thought She Would Die'

An 18-year-old man has admitted delivering the fatal blow that killed a young woman who was protecting two teenage girls in a German fast food restaurant.

Speaking on the opening day of his trial the defendant, Sanel Masovic, said he felt "deeply sorry" for causing the death of 23-year-old German-Turkish student Tugce Albayrak.

"I can't imagine the pain and suffering I inflicted on her family. I never thought she would die," Mr Masovic, who is facing charges of bodily harm resulting in death, told the court.

The accused told the juvenile court in Darmstadt he slapped the victim in the face following an altercation in a McDonald's restaurant in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, last November.

She fell into a coma and died in hospital two weeks later, on her 23rd birthday.

Witnesses said Ms Albayrak had stepped in to help the two women, who were being harassed by the defendant and another man.

CCTV footage of the attack was broadcast on German television, drawing widespread horror.

More than 1,000 mourners turned out for her funeral, with many in Germany heralding her as a national symbol of courage.

The German President Joachim Gauck described her as a "role model" for showing "bravery and civil courage in an exemplary way".

He has said he is considering an online petition for her to be posthumously awarded the Federal Order of Merit, Germany's highest civilian distinction for her courage.