FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

On the anniversary of the shocking assaults which took place on the final night in 2015, a German documentary showed behaviour experts reveal in their opinions, the attacks were planned. Professor and historian Jörg Baberowski said research of the violence shows it was a pre-arranged mass attack, in a location chosen so the world would pay attention. The New Year's attacks flummoxed police who failed to stop women being groped and robbed by men carrying translation notes in their pockets so theycould threaten the women in their native tongue.

GETTY Attacks against women on the streets of Cologne have been central to migration debate

GETTY On New Year's Eve 2016 police were surrounding central Cologne

You cannot defend your women Jörg Baberowski

Professor Baberowski said the message of the predominantly North African perpetrators was “you cannot defend your women". In their home countries, he said, "the rapists were killed by their own fathers". The Berlin’s Humboldt University scholar said the attacks were planned in Germany to show their lack of violence against criminals was being interpreted as a weakness. The documentary was shown on Western Germany Broadcaster (WDR) on December 30 as police were getting ready to prevent the same thing happening again. Editors of the documentary criticised a tweet by the police