Cairo - The family of slain Egyptian pharmacist Marwa el- Shirbini plans to sue the German court where she was killed, an Egyptian newspaper reported Friday.

The family, saying there was advanced warning of Alex Wiens' planned attack, would charge that the court failed to provide protection for the pregnant mother-of-one, the report said.

Hamdi Khalifa, the lead lawyer on the case, told al-Masry al-Youm that security at the court was "woefully inadequate."

On Wednesday, a Dresden court sentenced Wiens, a Russian-born German citizen, to life in prison without the possibility of early parole, for stabbing el-Shirbini to death in the same court building in July.

Wiens also stabbed el-Shirbini's husband 15 times when he came to his wife's aid, and a courtroom security officer accidentally shot him.

Wiens was in court after 31-year-old el-Shirbini had brought charges against him for verbally abusing her on a playground, apparently because she was wearing a Muslim headscarf.

Lawyers for Wiens, 29, on Thursday said they planned to appeal his conviction on charges of murder, attempted murder and causing dangerous bodily harm. (dpa)