First conviction for needle spiking in the Netherlands: man gets jail after stabbing festival-goer with a drug syringe Abroad

V. himself still denies that he has pricked someone with the hypodermic needle. He does admit that he had the hypodermic needle with him, which contained crack and heroin. He used it as a painkiller because of his molars, he insisted to the judges in The Hague. He just forgot that the syringe was still in the pants.

V. entered the festival site of The Hague Outdoor with a coin, saw that it was busy and stood at the side of the site, as he describes. There he was smoking hashish when suddenly he had to come along with a number of people. “I had no idea why,” he said through the interpreter.

At the time, a witness in the techno tent of The Hague Outdoor had seen a man who poked a woman in the leg with a hypodermic needle. When the witness tapped a friend, they saw the man poking more women. Then security took Levan V. out and found the hypodermic needle in him. Witnesses said the man arrested was the same person who stabbed him. They also recognized them in photos that circulated on social media.

The victim’s medical service found a red dot on the back of her thigh. According to the medical service, it was “almost certainly” a puncture hole. She was taken to hospital and felt dizzy.

V. has been incarcerated ever since and sat facing the judges this morning. The little petite Georgian was told through an interpreter what exactly he was suspected of. In a white T-shirt, he listened to the judge almost motionless.

He is in the Netherlands as a tourist and wanted to visit festivals and see the Netherlands. Although he initially denied to the police that he had a criminal record, it appears that he was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for a drug offence. He has served that sentence and the conditional part of his sentence has already been served.

The victim was also present at the hearing. Her lawyer spoke up: “She still doesn’t dare to go to a festival or party alone. She is constantly vigilant, checking that no one is acting suspiciously.” In addition, studies are still ongoing into possible infections, such as hepatitis or HIV. The last checks are in October.

The question of why someone would inject other festival-goers with a needle burned everyone’s lips. Also on that of the victim, according to her lawyer: “She is still very angry. Mainly because of the question of why this happened. Why should someone do this? Unfortunately, there is no answer to that either today.”

The public prosecutor – comparable to the public prosecutor – also found that unpalatable and demanded a prison sentence of three months. “There is a lot of media attention for the phenomenon of needle spiking. It creates feelings of insecurity. The suspect has deliberately visited a busy festival to inject women with a cocktail of hard drugs with a contaminated hypodermic needle. It is clear that we will not tolerate this.”

The judge spoke of a unique case. “We are talking about a relatively new phenomenon, needle spiking. And you are the first suspect to appear in court for this.” He called the case “too bizarre for words”. “You just stabbed her out of nowhere. Unacceptable.” The judge imposed a longer sentence than the OM demanded and sentenced the man to five months in prison.

According to lawyer Pieter Hoogendam, the witnesses did not see the actual stinging. There would be different descriptions of victims. He also doubts whether the red dot that the medical service saw is really a wound as a result of an injection. V. said immediately after the ruling that he wants to appeal.

See also: Mother files complaint after threats about ‘needle spiking’

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