One of the two American tourists stabbed by an Afghan refugee at Amsterdam’s central station at the end of August is now in a wheelchair with spinal injuries.

His lawyer told a procedural hearing on Tuesday that the man may have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. ‘His life, and that of his wife, has been ruined,’ the lawyer said.

The other victim was stabbed in the arm and still finds it difficult to hold things although he is back at work.

Neither man was at Tuesday’s court session but they will attend the full trial later this year, the lawyer said.

Jawed S, who had a German residency permit, told the court he had come deliberately to the Netherlands to carry out his attack. He made the trip, he said, because Islam was being insulted in the Netherlands due to Geert Wilders’ cartoon competition.

During the hearing, S said he would do the same thing again.’If he does it again, then I will do it again and again,’ S said. ‘I will accept the challenge he has offered me.’ S said that he wanted to be seen as a martyr and did not expect to survive the attack.

S was already under police observation for ‘strange behaviour’ when he launched his attack in the western tunnel under the station. A specially trained spotter had noticed S ‘aimlessly wandering around’ and alerted colleagues.

They were on the point of questioning him when S stabbed one of his victims in the back. Nine seconds later he attacked the second and police shot him in the hip. S had two large knives in his possession, one of which was still in his rucksack.

S who was being held at the high security prison in Vught has now been taken to the Pieter Baan centre for psychiatric observation.