The appeal against Heerlenaar Danny S. (38), who hit a group of festival visitors after Pinkpop 2018 and killed a victim, may be postponed again. For the second time, his lawyer has dropped the defense.
The lawyer in question, Ivo van de Bergh, confirms this to L1. Previously, exactly the same happened with lawyer Raimon Maessen.
Also read: Pinkpop drama process falters: lawyer lays down defense
No jail time
Assisted by lawyer Maessen, Danny was sentenced by a judge in Maastricht to a community service order of 120 hours and a six-month driving ban. That was considerably less than the prison sentence of one and a half years demanded by the judiciary and a five-year driving ban. It should therefore come as no surprise that the judiciary appealed.
The appeal process would start on August 12, 2021. In the run-up to that hearing, however, Maessen put down the defense. “That was something between me and my former client and I would rather not say more about it,” Maessen says about it now.
Legal issues
Danny appeared at the trial without Maessen and the Court decided to postpone the appeal. “It is of course a case that is about something. This is not about shoplifting. There are a number of legal issues here,” the Court explained at the time. Danny had the opportunity to find a new lawyer. He chose Ivo van de Bergh.
Danny on repeat
However, Van de Bergh will not conduct the defense either. “The reason why is something between me and him and I will not go into that,” says the lawyer. If Danny appears before the Court on Thursday, he will do so again without legal assistance. The Court is thus once again faced with a decision; continue without a lawyer or give Danny a third chance.
‘Come in’
The fact that there are once again doubts about the continuation of the process is a hard blow for victims and next of kin. Danny killed a 35-year-old man and caused permanent injuries to others. “This news will come in for a while,” says lawyer Nino Pennino, who assists relatives. “My clients said on Monday: ‘We have a life sentence.’ They would like to close this book. Of course that cannot be done this way.”