Three men and a woman have been sentenced by the judge to community service and a suspended prison sentence for nightlife violence in Meppel in March and July last year.
“What I find worrying is that you have been involved in two incidents in four months, which you say you actually had nothing to do with,” the judge in Assen told a 21-year-old man from Meppel on Tuesday. He previously described that on the night of March 19 and July 16 last year there were arguments going on on Prinsenplein, in which he actually had nothing to do with, but was “involved” by the victims.
The Meppeler then made no bones about it. In March he held the victim around the waist, while a 26-year-old man from Enschede gave him a so-called high kick hit the head. A 22-year-old friend and local of the Meppeler also held the victim so that he could not leave. By detaining them they contributed to the violence, the judge ruled.
Kicks to the head
The violence was captured on surveillance cameras in the center. According to the 22-year-old Meppeler, he and his comrade did not hold the victim so that the man from Enschede could hit him. They didn’t know there would be a staircase. Moreover, they knew the victim from Meppel and they certainly did not hate him. “It was actually just a stupid argument, it made no sense,” said the eldest Meppeler.
On July 16, the 21-year-old man was again involved in nightlife violence on Prinsenplein, the cause of which he no longer knew. According to him, this victim, whom he did not know, had an argument with others and involved him by appearing to want to hit him. The 21-year-old man then dragged the victim, who was being attacked by several people, to the ground and kicked him hard in the head twice. The man’s head shook back and forth, officers later saw on surveillance footage.
‘Counterreaction’
“It was a reaction because he wanted to hit me,” the Meppeler said in court. Subsequently, a 21-year-old woman from Zwolle also kicked the victim in the head and was also punched by a boy. The latter was also involved in the violence in March and will appear in court behind closed doors next month because he is a minor.
Both victims appear to have escaped relatively well. The judge read in the police file that both had bumps and scratches. “But it could have ended very differently,” she said to the two Meppelers.
To punish
The youngest Meppel resident received the highest sentence because he was involved in both incidents: 180 hours of community service and a two-month suspended prison sentence. The 22-year-old was sentenced to eighty hours of community service for holding the victim in March. The Enschede resident, who high kick handed out must perform 150 hours of community service. The woman from Zwolle was sentenced to 180 hours for her kick on July 16, of which 60 were conditional.