A young man has gone on trial for stabbing his boss 23 times in a brutal killing after being sacked on his first day of work.

Ruslan K., whose full name was not reported due to strict local privacy laws, is on trial in the district court of Hagen, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, for manslaughter.

Under the German penal code, ‘manslaughter’ is the intentional killing of another human and is typically punished with five to 15 years in prison.

The 20-year-old dual German-Kazakh national is accused of having stabbed 57-year-old garage owner Bernd B., of the town of Breckerfeld, with a 26.5-centimetre- (10.4-inch-) long kitchen knife 23 times on 6th July.

He appeared in the dock with his hands and feet cuffed and was strapped into his chair due to safety concerns after reportedly threatening behaviour yesterday (Tuesday, 14th December).

He has so far remained silent on the allegations against him.

Prosecutor Miriam Strunk, 30, was quoted as saying: “After a verbal argument, Ruslan K. returned to the vehicle workshop at around 11.35 pm on the same day. In front of the building, he is said to have stabbed and cut the victim 23 times with intent to kill.”

The defendant was on a trial day at the garage, and it was said to have gone badly, reportedly ending up with the two men quarrelling and the boss telling the intern not to come back.

Before he left, the defendant is believed to have told the garage owner: “You’ll be sorry for that, you’ll regret it.”

Ruslan K. is believed to have returned to the garage later that night, where he allegedly stabbed the victim multiple times.

The victim managed to call the emergency services, but by the time paramedics arrived on the scene, he had already bled to death.

The suspect fled and was eventually tracked down and arrested in the town of Duelmen, after he insulted customers at a petrol station and an employee called the police, weeks later.

He managed to escape after giving false personal details to the officers, but he was swiftly encircled in a residential area and apprehended again.

Though the defendant is on trial for manslaughter, he may end up being convicted for ‘murder’, which, under the German penal code, is used if the case is especially severe.

Murder is punished with life imprisonment.

A total of 83 witnesses and four expert witnesses are expected to testify at the trial, and a judgement is expected in mid-February.