A team outing with thirteen, almost all drunk, soldiers from the Royal Military Police in Oirschot got completely out of hand at the end of June last year. Two of them were so injured by a colleague that they have been unable to function normally since. A 25-year-old military police officer from Tilburg who allegedly committed the assaults stood before the military chamber of the court in Arnhem on Monday.
A community service order of eighty hours was demanded against the military police from Tilburg. If he commits another crime within the next three years, he will be sentenced to another 100 hours of community service. He would also have to pay thousands of euros in compensation to the victims.
One victim suffers from a concussion, the other suffers major discomfort from major knee surgery. Both are devastated and indicate that they have lost confidence in colleagues as a result of the incident. The Ministry of Defense has already disciplinary discharged the suspect from Tilburg as of February 1.
‘Definitely drunk’
The group of friends was on their way to the barracks in Oirschot in a van on the night of June 29 to 30, 2023, when things went wrong. With the exception of the driver, everyone had consumed (a lot of) alcohol. The military police had first had a drink and continued to do so until late at night. The Tilburger said that he himself was ‘certainly drunk’: “I think I drank about ten glasses, including Flügels and spirits.”
The court was shocked by this observation: it had not expected that from people at the Royal Military Police. Is that normal, she wondered out loud. She was also surprised that there were so many people in the van.
During the return journey to the barracks, the Tilburg citizen became increasingly annoyed by what he perceived as the grabbing, teasing and annoying behavior of the other occupants. A number of them actually stated that he was constantly swearing. At one point the suspect became so angry that he first pushed a colleague away and then hit another female military police officer in the face at least once with a clenched fist.
This victim states that he still suffers every day from what happened that night. She struggles with nightmares and panic attacks: “When I saw the suspect in the hallway, I had such a panic attack.”
Cruciate ligaments torn
When the driver stopped the van, the Tilburg citizen fled from the car. A good comrade then tried to restrain him. However, he had to pay for this with blows to his leg and knee. This violence caused another cruciate ligament to be torn, meaning that his comrade will never be able to play football again. While this was his greatest passion.
It is also questionable whether this victim will ever be able to function optimally within Defense again. “We were a brotherhood, you were a good friend. Why?”, he read out in tears during the hearing.
The suspect, who otherwise had a clean criminal record, could not give a good answer to this question. “I think it was an accumulation of my own emotions in combination with the drink. Alcohol usually makes me happy. I should have realized this earlier, I now understand from the training courses I follow. I shouldn’t have done this, also because we were friends. I’m really sorry.”