A 37-year-old man from Assen has been sentenced to five years in prison and TBS with compulsory treatment for attempted manslaughter of a random passer-by and vandalism. The 68-year-old unsuspecting victim was seriously mauled in Assen on December 3, 2022, while walking his dog.
Unlike the victim, the suspect did not appear to hear the verdict. The sentence is equal to the demand of the Public Prosecution Service (OM). The man in his sixties was walking through Talmastraat with his pet when he saw the man in his thirties smash a window of a house and a car.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground and was kicked by the thirty-something man. The attacker shouted and brandished a knife. As a result, the victim suffered cuts. “It is thanks to the victim’s defense that the outcome was not more serious,” the judge said. Due to the broken hip, the older man was unable to get up. When local residents came to help, the suspect ran away. He was later arrested in a house at Van Swinderenhof.
The suspect has been psychologically examined. He struggles with, among other things, a psychotic disorder and addiction problems. They also continued to work during the abuse. The man said earlier at the hearing that he could not remember anything because of this. He hadn’t taken his medication in a while. “He knew what the consequences of this could be,” the experts ruled. They consider the risk of recurrence to be high. The suspect has a slightly reduced accountability.
Neighbors witnessed this explosion of violence. “The suspect has caused a lot of fear and unrest in the neighborhood with this behavior,” the judge said. The man in his thirties has a significant criminal record and does not take responsibility. “Out of nowhere, he hit a random passerby in such a way that he had to rely on his walker for the rest of his life,” the judge said.
In 2020, the Public Prosecution Service already demanded two years in prison and TBS with compulsory treatment against the suspect for a series of thefts in Drenthe and Groningen. The judge then found that the man should not be forcibly nursed. That was disproportionate to the crimes committed, the judge said at the time. No TBS measure was advised at that time. The cards are now on the table differently.
The lawyer for the man in his thirties argued for a TBS with conditions (without compulsory treatment). The man is now said to be open to treatment. The judge sees no point in this. Previous treatments have led to nothing, because the man kept withdrawing from them. The judge believes that compulsory treatment is necessary to protect society against the suspect’s excesses.
“I am disabled for the rest of my life and have to live with pain,” the victim said after the verdict. The impact of the event could be read on the man’s anguished face and that of his teenage son. “That man not only destroyed my life, but also that of my son and daughter,” said the man from Assen. The kicks to his legs caused serious nerve damage. “Everything is broken, absolutely everything.”