If Z. uses violence again within two years, he will have to serve that time. In addition, he must pay one of the victims, a 21-year-old woman, more than ten thousand euros in compensation.
The court convicts Z. of it knock unconscious of that woman on the night of September 28 to 29 in front of a café on Koningin Julianalaan. There are camera images of the assault and Z. has confessed. He was also convicted of assaulting her boyfriend.
Earlier that day, a group of players abused their coach on the RKDES football field in Kudelstaart. That coach’s mother ended up unconscious on the field. The court finds that it can be proven that Z. was also involved in this violence and convicts him of open violence.
Exception for young suspect
The ruling states that the seriousness of the offenses would normally lead to a prison sentence, but that the court makes an exception due to his young age and the fact that he is still a student. The fact that he himself was abused in the café that night also plays a role.
The 21-year-old woman who was knocked unconscious with one punch during the night exercised her right to speak during the hearing: “I woke up in the hospital, scared and confused. My injuries were so serious that the doctors could not believe that it was caused by one blow. I could only cry.”
CCTV footage from that night shows Z. knocking her down out of nowhere. Moments earlier he allegedly had an argument with the young woman’s friend. According to him, the reason for the argument was an assault in a café of which he himself was a victim.