The Public Prosecution Service demands four years in prison against a 32-year-old man from Meppel, one of which is conditional. The man is said to have committed several armed robberies in January of this year in the center of Meppel.
On January 9 he would have robbed a clothing store, a beauty salon on January 13 and a snack bar on January 20. De Meppeler would have been consistently proceeding by entering a balaclava on his head, showing a knife to staff and summitting them to remove money from the cash register.
An employee of the beauty salon also stated that the man had put her the knife against her, but the OM did not find it any support for that. He would have taken money from her bag.
The suspect admitted that he indeed committed the three robberies. He said to live with the victims. “It’s outrageous,” he reviewed his own actions. He stated “not himself” under the influence of a heavy addiction to different types of drugs. He stated that he immediately bought drugs with the money.
After viewing camera images, the police tracked him by the fact that the robberies took place near his home and that he wore the same shoes in several robberies. These shoes could also be seen on the profile photo of his LinkedIn account.
The public prosecutor spoke of “serious facts” and thereby quoted the words of the suspect himself about the consequences for the victims. “People enjoy going to work and then a bastard comes when I am disturbing it for them. It is a trauma for them.” She stated that the insecurity in society is increasing due to such incidents and demanded years of prison.
According to the suspect’s lawyer, her client must be declared an imputable imputable by his serious drug addiction at the time of the facts. She argued for a shorter prison sentence, so that the man can be treated quickly and can work on his problems on his life to get back on track.
The court in Assen will rule on 26 August.