Dresden, Germany  - The man accused of the courtroom murder
of pregnant Egyptian woman Marwa al-Shirbini flipped out on the third
day of his trial in the east German city of Dresden on Wednesday.

Alex W, banged his head on the table, stamped his feet and yelled
at the court before police officers grabbed him by the feet and
shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

At one stage, nine policemen guarded the 28-year-old defendant,
who is charged with the racially motivated stabbing death al-Shirbini
during an appeal hearing in the same court on July 1.

Lawyer Marcus Haselier, who was appointed by the court to
represent Alex W at the appeal, said the defendant had uttered racial
slurs in his answers to questions at that hearing.

Fighting back the tears, Haselier described how the defendant
brandished a knife and went at the woman "like a wild animal,"
stabbing her numerous times, even when she collapsed to the ground.

The defendant had smuggled the knife into the courtroom and used
it to attack al-Shirbini in front of her 3-year-old son and her
husband, who was badly injured in the attack.

"The attack was completely unprovoked," said the lawyer, who threw
a chair at Alex W in a bid to stop the stabbing.

"There was no indication to me that the man, who was no doubt
impudent, spiteful, obstinate and introverted, would pull a switch to
become a brutal animal," Haselier said in his evidence.

Alex W, a German citizen of Russian origin, has not spoken at the
trial, which is expected to last until November 11 and could result
in a life sentence if he is convicted.

The July attack occurred at a hearing over a 330-euro (480-dollar)
fine Alex W had been ordered to pay for verbally abusing al-Shirbini
at a children's playground in August 2008.

The killing had provoked angry reactions in Egypt and a death
threat against the defendant, prompting unusually tight security at
the Dresden court.
(dpa)