The fireworks hobby of Jan B. (38) from Geldrop got a bit out of hand last year. On December 29, 2022, the police found a huge batch of fireworks in his house in Braakhuizen-Noord. And that is why Jan sat before the police judge in Den Bosch on Friday morning.
“My girlfriend and I love fireworks,” is how Jan explained his hobby. He effortlessly listed all the categories, even though the judge really needed his notes. “We’re not here for a few firecrackers,” he noted. 142 kilos of fireworks were found in the terraced house of B in Geldrop.
There were 99 kilos of consumer fireworks and another 40 kilos of professional fireworks, which are not allowed to be lit by consumers. In addition to many decorative fireworks, Jan also had many illegal fireworks such as cobras and hundreds of other heavy nitrate hitters such as Dum Bum’s and Scorpio’s.
A consumer may only have a maximum of 25 kilos of consumer fireworks in his home and certainly not illegal or professional fireworks. Otherwise, a permit and a safe fireworks bunker are required. And of course Jan didn’t have that.
Fireworks specialists from the police examined the batch of fireworks and spoke of a ‘mass explosion’. If there’s a spark, everything goes off.
The public prosecutor and the judge continued to emphasize how dangerous such an amount of fireworks is. “A spark and the windows are blown out in the wide area,” said the judge. “There can be deaths with so many fireworks,” the public prosecutor added.
Jan didn’t seem too impressed by the danger. The Cobras are dangerous, he admitted, but the rest were just fireworks that met European standards.
But Jan was impressed by the consequences. After the discovery of the fireworks, he was held in custody for no less than fourteen days and the officer and the judge seemed to be pushing for even more prison sentences throughout the hearing.
But, it didn’t get that far. Jan received a community service order of 180 hours and a suspended prison sentence of 180 days. He must serve it if he commits another crime within two years.
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