The 33-year-old former police officer from Groningen, who was caught in 2020 with more than a kilogram of cocaine in his car, said during his appeal on Tuesday that he also used drugs with fellow officers at parties.
,,It also happens in that organization”, the Groninger told the court in Leeuwarden. “That is at odds with their task and mine at the time. And that cannot be justified.” He responded to a question about how his own drug use related to his role as a police officer in the Northern Netherlands.
The arrest of the agent in 2020 caused a sensation. After he was summoned to the police station for a criminal investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, financial investigators came across two small bags of white powder in his private car. The search was halted, but a drug dog later struck a brown bag in the car. It contained more than a kilogram of cocaine. When he was detained, the police found child and animal pornography on his phone.
Criminal proceedings cost man his job and his family
The criminal case cost the policeman his job, his family and his marriage. But the court in Assen eventually largely acquitted him. Another scenario, namely that the drugs belonged to the suspect’s brother, could not be ruled out. And there was not enough evidence for the scam involving mortgage documents for the purchase of a second home. The judges imposed a sentence on the Groningen man that was equal to the duration of his pre-trial detention, of just under seven months. The Public Prosecution Service appealed against this.
Above all, De Groninger hopes that the matter will finally be over after Tuesday. He says his conviction for the pornographic material has affected him the most. “I am not a pedophile. Those images really don’t do anything for me, but they were on that phone for someone else. I’m not going to mention that name, so I take responsibility.”
‘I used with colleagues’
In the time before his arrest, he occasionally used drugs. Especially at sex parties, in a double life he led. A family man at home, a party animal outside. The threshold to start using was high in the beginning. “It was absolutely impossible. But on the other hand, I also used with colleagues.”
He also maintained his story at court that he did not want to lift the bank and that the coke belonged to his brother. The man did not know that the drugs were in his car. He has now set up his own cleaning company and says he no longer uses drugs.
Back to prison?
On Tuesday, the Advocate General (AG) – the public prosecutor during an appeal – demanded a lower sentence than in the first instance: 1 year unconditionally, instead of 1.5 years. If the court agrees, it means that the suspect must go back to prison. According to the AG, the former agent did know about the prohibited substances in his car, because he had lent it to his brother, who he said was a ‘drug supplier’. He does see enough evidence for bank fraud.
Lawyer Robert Eefting again asked for acquittal for the fraud and drug offenses. As far as he is concerned, the punishment should remain as it was. “This has been going on for years now. And despite the fact that my client has been under a magnifying glass with the judiciary for a long time, the evidence says nothing. The suspect’s brother incriminates himself in his statement and comes up with information about the drugs that only the perpetrator can know.”
The court will rule on June 27.