The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has demanded a 240-hour community service against a 43-year-old man from Nieuwe Pekela for years of abusing his girlfriend. The man was initially prosecuted for attempted manslaughter and an attempt to inflict serious physical injury, but the OM did not see sufficient evidence for that.
The abuse would have happened between 2005 and 2021 in Schoonoord, Zwiggelte and Odoornerveen. The man denies that he systematically abused her. “It was not a rose scent and moonshine, but it wasn’t that bad.” According to the man it was mainly swearing and throwing things. Although he also stated that he had sometimes put her head and ass “outside or had given a” kick under her ass “.
The woman stated that the violence lasted sixteen years and that the suspect ensured, among other things, that she became blind in her left eye and her entire teeth are broken. In addition, the man would also have tried to kill her by close her throat. In 2021 she would have fled and in 2022 she reported. “He has destroyed me physically and mentally,” she says in a victim statement.
According to the public prosecutor, there is not sufficient evidence for the most serious facts that the man has been charged, but she does indicate that there is “long -term, systematic abuse.” The officer thinks, because people should feel safe within a relationship and not be confronted with violence.
According to the suspect’s lawyer, the woman’s statements are not correct. She would be the aggressor in the relationship. According to the lawyer, the declaration is a revenge action because their child wanted to live with him. Moreover, care providers and the local police officer do not speak of abuse either. She argued for acquittal.
The court in Assen will rule on 26 August.