On behalf of Mayor Karel Loohuis and three Hoogeveen officials, a location and contact ban was requested in court for Daniel L on Thursday. The man has often been convicted in recent years for threatening municipal employees with death.
The 53-year-old Pessenaar was arrested again at the end of July last year for threatening and assaulting officials and the mayor of Hoogeveen. He was released from pre-trial detention at the beginning of last month. Since then, there has been fear among the threatened civil servants, the mayors and their families, the municipality’s lawyer said at the summary proceedings judge. L. himself was not present at the hearing.
According to the lawyer, employees have recently been seriously threatened in writing and verbally. “The future mayor Martijn Breukelman, who is currently still an alderman in Hardenberg, is also being bombarded by L..” At the time of the release, a restraining order was imposed on the Pessenaar in front of the town hall. According to the lawyer, this is insufficient to guarantee the safety of employees.
Huge impact
The judge has been asked to ban L. from going within a radius of 500 meters around the town hall. “Employees also have to walk to work from the parking lot. They don’t want to be confronted with him.” The municipality also wants to prevent him from showing up at the home of the mayor and the ombudsman.
According to the lawyer, L. disappeared under the radar after his release from pre-trial detention. But that may even increase the fear of the threatened employees. “No one knows where he is. To prevent accidents from actually happening, a location and contact ban is necessary. The threats have an enormous impact on the personal privacy of employees and their immediate environment.”
The request to the judge is to impose a penalty (fine) or hostage detention (cell) for violating the location ban. The lawyer asked for an immediate ruling. That didn’t happen. The judge has promised that the verdict will be delivered within a week. L. must also appear before the criminal court. It is not yet known when.