A 27-year-old man who brought home robbers to their target in Eindhoven in 2018 has been acquitted on appeal. He was the driver of the perpetrators, but did not know at the time that they wanted to rob an 89-year-old woman. This was decided by the court in Den Bosch on Tuesday. The court previously sentenced him to 28 months in prison.
It all started when the 89-year-old victim went to walk her dog in October 2018, but left her keys inside. She called a locksmith who replaced her lock. She had to pay 900 euros for this. She took the money out of a white envelope. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the key makers were acquaintances of one of the later robbers.
Cut off fingers
A day later, the woman received an unwanted visit. Two men in balaclavas stormed into her flat on Reinaertlaan at the beginning of the evening. They ransacked the house. They also threatened with a knife.
They shouted that they would cut off the woman’s fingers. They also threatened to set her on fire. The elderly woman then handed over a sum of money of about 12,000 euros.
Clues
In 2020, the court ruled that the driver was complicit in the brutal robbery and sentenced him to 28 months in prison. So now the court has put a line through it.
According to the judges, there are indications that he was involved in the robbery. But according to the Court, that does not prove that the man actually knew that the perpetrators wanted to commit a robbery at the time he transported them. The driver stated that he only heard about the robbery three weeks after the robbery.
Three others
In total, in addition to the driver, three others are said to be involved in the robbery. One of them received a 24-month prison sentence in 2020. The other two have not been found.