Former Baader-Meinhof gang member Daniela Klette, 67, jailed for armed robberies after decades on the run

A former member of the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang has been jailed for a string of armed robberies after decades on the run.

Daniela Klette, 67, once described as Germany's most-wanted woman, was arrested with weapons, cash and gold while living under a different name in Berlin two years ago.

A journalist unmasked her using facial recognition software to compare old and new photos.

The Baader-Meinhof gang was known by the names of two of its early leaders - but officially called the Red Army Faction. The anti-capitalist group, which grew out of the ​leftist protest movements of the 1960s, carried out attacks from the 1970s to 1990s.

The founding members robbed numerous banks, and used the cash to attack media headquarters and military sites.

When Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof were jailed in 1972, the others hit back with carjackings, kidnappings, bombings and murders of high-profile figures.

Prosecutors said Klette was part of the so-called third generation - active from around 1982 to the 1990s.

The group formally disbanded in 1998 with ex-members already in hiding.

Klette was the only woman on Europol's wanted list described as "dangerous" when a renewed push for justice got under way about 10 years ago.

She was finally arrested in 2024, with items found at her home including a pistol, Kalashnikov rifle, fake ID, €240,000 (£207,000) in cash and gold bars.

The fugitive was sentenced on Wednesday to 13 years in prison by a court in Verden, northern Germany, after being found guilty of charges including aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

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The heists occurred between 1999 and 2016, after the group had disbanded.

She and two others targeted armoured trucks and supermarket cash offices to fund their fugitive existence. Her alleged accomplices, Ernst-Volker Staub ​and Burkhard Garweg, are still on the run.

Klette faces more charges relating to attacks by the group in the early 1990s, but her lawyers say the decades-old evidence is weak and are trying to get them dismissed.

(c) Sky News 2026: Former Baader-Meinhof gang member Daniela Klette, 67, jailed for armed robberies after