Jan has just been released after being detained for six weeks. He still wonders what happened to him. At the end of April, weapons, explosives and ammunition were found in his house in Oisterwijk. His 31-year-old son, who also lived there, was immediately arrested. Jan now says that he knew nothing. He gives his side of the story to Omroep Brabant.
“I was completely shocked by the amounts of ammunition and weapons that were found at my home,” Jan (61) begins, audibly shaken.
On that particular Friday evening he was visiting acquaintances. He was driving home around ten when his son’s girlfriend called: “She was in all states. There was shooting and fighting at the warehouse where I store the stuff of my gardening company.” The police then searched the shed and found weapons and explosives in a locked locker.
“I didn’t go into the shed very often.”
Jan says he was terrified of the news. “I knew nothing!” he emphasises. “I didn’t often go into the shed, sometimes to get a chainsaw or something. My son was there sometimes, but he told me he was there to work on his car.”
After the news, Jan quickly drove to his son’s girlfriend, who was panicking at home. “They had a daughter for just one month. I tried to reassure her.”
“My son has declared himself that I am beyond this”
On the way back home Jan was called by the police, they wanted to speak to him. “I drove to the police station myself at night.” Because weapons were found in the shed, which is in Jan’s name, the police also went to look at his home. They also encountered weapons there.
How it is possible that Jan never noticed anything, he himself does not understand. “In hindsight I may have been naive. But the guns weren’t just hidden in the kitchen or living room either. They were found in the attic above his bedroom. I never went there.”
Because the weapons were in Jan’s house, he was immediately arrested once at the station. Jan was imprisoned for six weeks. He has been free since Thursday. “My son has stated himself that I am beyond this.”
“I wouldn’t care if he was imprisoned for years.”
John stops for a moment. He sighs audibly. “I had a pretty good relationship with my son,” he says in a shaky voice. He had been living with Jan temporarily since February, until he found a new home. “A few months ago we were still painting the nursery together in his house in Oss. I can’t believe he kept this from me. He just worked five days a week. He had money. I just don’t understand. Why did he do this?”
Jan has not spoken to his son since his arrest. “I’m mad at him. I hope he gets 3 or 5 or 8 years”, says Jan. “It doesn’t really interest me.”
Then he changes his mind: “No, at the same time I hope he is not incarcerated for so long. He just has a daughter.” He does know that he does not want to see or speak to his son for the time being. “I blame myself enormously for being so naive. I want peace in my life again.”
READ ALSO: Weapons, explosives and ammunition found at home in Oisterwijk