As a paramedic, he assisted in medical incidents in Groningen and Friesland, with a converted, neon-yellow painted Volkswagen Transporter including siren and blue lights. He acted as a traffic controller in an official police vest. He was stopped while posing as a firefighter.
The 22-year-old suspect P. is none of them. No ambulance responder, no police officer, no firefighter. “Do I see a pattern?” asks one of the judges during the hearing in the Groningen court this Friday. “Do you see being a care provider as increasing your status?”
No answer.
The case concerns a laundry list of incidents from 2023 and 2024. The stealing of an AED device from the Red Cross. Darkening walkie-talkies. Wearing a police sign. Violating the Individual Healthcare Professions Act (BIG) by posing as an ambulance nurse, stealing personal and medical information from people. Falsely completing an ambulance form. Driving with siren and flashing lights without registration. Stealing and wearing uniforms. And: purse theft and fencing.
The chairman presents it to him one by one. The suspect – in court as a citizen: red polo, black trousers, glasses with black frames – has what he considers an exculpatory explanation for everything. He fills his sentences with jargon from the medical world.
Only a first aid diploma
The converted van is regularly mistaken for a real ambulance. “But it does not have the text or the stripes, it does not in any way give the impression that it is an ambulance,” says the suspect. Can he imagine that someone else could think that? “A layman perhaps, but I can reasonably expect that he can also see the difference?” Later it turns out that at a certain point he did apply stripes and put the word ‘Ambulance’ on the hood.
He needs the non-ambulance for his sole proprietorship: Medical Support Group. Together with his “111 employees”, he provides medical support at events. This is indeed allowed under strict conditions, with registration and only within the framework of the event. But not, as P. has done, outside of it.
For example, he uses his ‘ambulance’ to help a fallen woman in the Beijum district of Groningen. He examines her, says that she can stand on her painful leg, takes her blood pressure and takes her home, he says. He then fills out a form from Ambulance Care North Netherlands for her, on which he writes his findings: pain relief, physio for persistent complaints, asking for advice from the GP.
“I’m going to interrupt you for a moment,” says the chairman. “Your findings? You are, with all due respect, no one in that situation. You are not a counselor.”
I’m a nursing student, he says. “So medically trained.” The man says he has completed various courses and “collected diplomas of all kinds.”
About that, huh, says the chairman. “The police do not get further than one first aid diploma.”
‘You are also a traffic controller?’
When he is stopped in another yellow-painted ambulance car and refuses to hand over his key, his car is searched. Bags and women’s clothing reported as stolen were found there. He doesn’t understand how they get there either.
Among these items, the police also find a police identification card, with the suspect’s photo and name. “Why did you make that pass?”
“Just for home, a gadget. I collect things from defense, the fire brigade, police. I have them in the cupboard.” You might think, says the chairman, that you have used this to convince others that you are in the police. “I understand that you say that, but fortunately that is not the case.”
The suspect’s lack of insight worries me seriously
For all other incidents he has explanations to which he stoically adheres. He would transport the walkie-talkies to another location on a voluntary basis for the Red Cross. “The Red Cross states that you should not have had it in your possession and has reported embezzlement,” says the chairman. He allegedly received the ambulance clothing from the White Cross. “They indicate not.” He was allegedly asked by the police to assist as a traffic controller. “You are also a traffic controller?!”
It is hallucinatory at times. He squirms, slithers, writhes, but still regularly gets stuck in his own statements. “That’s crazy!” the chairman responds at a certain point. And one of the judges: “It’s not logical, is it?”
Blind trust is damaged
That is also what the public prosecutor mentions in her indictment. “Much of what he says is completely unbelievable.” The suspect, who has an autism spectrum disorder and exhibits traits of personality problems, needs help, she said. But he is also a criminal suspect.
“The suspect’s lack of insight worries me seriously,” she says. “He has damaged the foundation of blind trust that citizens should have, that a care provider is competent and authorized. Of course you should help your fellow man, but not in the way the suspect does.” Because, she says again: he is not a counselor. As much as he would like that when he has completed his nursing training.
She demands a fine of 400 euros and a driving ban of four months for each violation with a motor vehicle. A prison sentence of 15 months for the crimes, 8 of which are conditional. And a five-year professional ban “for carrying out tasks in individual health care.” Specific: “Ambulance, police, fire brigade.”
The court is taking “a little more time to think” than is usual: the ruling will be delivered on April 17.
