He was walking on the street in the Paddepoel district of Groningen when a passer-by pushed against him with his shoulder. Moments later, the man was lying on the ground and got the attacker’s foot in his face.
A man from Groningen told the police in September. He ended up in Martini Hospital with a broken nose, concussion and dental damage. According to the 28-year-old suspect who will be tried on Monday at the court in Assen, it was not he, but the victim who was the aggressor.
The suspect was moving his mother with his girlfriend when the later victim passed by and nudged him. That ended in an exchange of words. “Then suddenly he reached for his pocket and I thought he wanted to get something out. I felt so threatened that I punched him,” says the Stadjer in court. When the man got to his feet, he allegedly pushed him back down with his foot. “Not a real kick, more like a push against his shoulder,” said the suspect.
‘Aggression out of the blue’
The victim is claiming 2,500 euros in compensation because his nose and sight have still not recovered and he also has psychological complaints. “He still wonders why this happened. Why so much aggression out of the blue?”, says an employee of Victim Support Netherlands on his behalf.
The suspect was arrested a day later, after local residents in Paddepoel saw him walking again. He fled from the police, but was eventually found hiding under a bench with a tarp over it. Although he and his mother and girlfriend deny it, the public prosecutor believes there is enough evidence that the Stadjer not only hit the victim, but also kicked the victim full in the face at least once. Two residents of the area told police.
Violence and drugs
For that attempted aggravated assault and the discovery of ecstasy in his house, the officer is demanding 180 hours of community service and one month suspended prison sentence. Together with a 30-year-old man from Harkstede, the Groningen man is also on trial for a robbery in Hoogersmilde on Monday, but the prosecutor asks for acquittal due to lack of evidence.
Verdict in two weeks.