Mohammed cartoon that sparked Muslim rage
Mohammed cartoon that sparked Muslim rageCartoonist Kurt Westergaard

A Somali man who tried to kill a Danish cartoonist for drawing a caricature of the Muslim prophet Mohammed in 2005 was sentenced to a nine-year prison term on Tuesday.

A Danish jury unanimously found Mohamed Geele, 29, guilty of “attempted terrorism” and “attempted murder.”

On January 1, 2010, Danish police caught Geele, who was armed with an axe, a knife and a respirator inorder to hide his face, as he tried to break into cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's home.

“I thought that by threatening and scaring Kurt Westergaard, maybe I could convince him to stop bragging about his drawings,” Geele said, according to the Copenhagen Post. Geele was referring to a recent prize that Westergaard received for his work.

Muslims, who said the image of Mohammed offended them and mocked Islam, rioted in cities around the world in response, causing several deaths.

Westergaard reportedly told the police, “I’m dead if you don’t come over immediately,” after the attempted forced entry set off an alarm and sent an electronic alert to security officials.

The cartoonist took his granddaughter, who was visiting with him at the time, and hid in a “panic room,” installed in the house after he began receiving death threats for his drawing.

"This is a good result, and I am very pleased with the way that it has gone," District Attorney Kristen Dyman said, according to CNN.

Geele, who will be deported after serving his sentence, plead innocent to the charges and will appeal his sentence.