The court wants more psychological examination of a 37-year-old man who has been arrested for attempted manslaughter in Assen. The thirty-something hit and kicked a random passer-by with a broken hip on December 3 in Talmastraat.
The victim (68) appeared in court in Assen on Wednesday, shuffling behind a walker. He suffered nerve damage from the attack. It looks like he will never recover. “I was a fit man, who was in the middle of life. Since that day my life has been turned upside down, I’m bedridden and I can’t do anything,” the man told the judge. He used his right to speak.
The thirty-year-old knew nothing more about the attack. He was in a psychosis, the man said. That often happened when he didn’t take his medication and used drugs. As a result, he walked through the streets in Assen that Saturday morning screaming and destroying.
The 68-year-old man was walking his dog and ran into the confused thirty-something. Before he knew it he was on the ground and was kicked. The attacker brandished a knife. The older man suffered injuries to his hands as a result of the fending off. The broken hip prevented him from moving.
The suspect was later arrested in a house on Van Swinderenhof. Witnesses had given a good description of the man. In the mailbox of the house, the officers found a knife.
The man said to the victim during the court hearing: “Sorry sir, it was never the intention to injure you like this”. There is only a report from a psychiatrist, who finds him fully responsible. As long as the thirty-something takes his medication and stays off the drugs, the risk of recurrence is small, according to the report.
That is precisely the problem, said the prosecutor. The thirty-something has a problematic past and therefore a substantial criminal record. So far there have been no serious violent crimes.
Several treatments have failed because the man did not want to or could not cooperate. “There is a danger on the street as long as he is not treated,” the prosecutor said. A possible TBS measure also requires an examination by a psychologist and a report from the probation service. The court agrees.