Forewarned counts for two, you would think. But that apparently does not apply to 38-year-old Carlos A. from Rotterdam. He stalked his ex from Dinteloord for months with the most terrible messages. But, as it turned out in the court in Breda on Wednesday, he also did that a few years ago with a previous ex.
‘I bought a machine gun, let your auxiliaries come’, ‘things are going wrong, you keep ignoring me, I’m around the corner’ and ‘if someone is lying down, shoot him in the head, so be warned’. All threats from Carlos A. to his ex-girlfriend from Dinteloord. The dossier of no less than 650 pages is full of these types of threats.
The two had a relationship for about 2.5 years, but when the Dinteloord woman broke off the relationship in May last year, Carlos did not accept it. He called her dozens to hundreds of times in the following months, especially in the evening and at night, he sent pleading or threatening messages via social media, created fake accounts, and called her neighbor. He also cut her off in the car and threatened to take her dog with him.
All this because he couldn’t stomach the fact that she didn’t want him anymore. He didn’t care about a warning from the police, nor about the many reports from his ex. “I love you and I want you to talk to me,” Carlos kept repeating in all kinds of variations.
Acute stress disorder
The woman from Dinteloord suffered an acute stress disorder as a result of all the misery with her ex, it has been determined. She did not dare to go out on the street for a while and was only able to live in her own house again when cameras were installed there.
The police judge could only shake his head at so much verbal abuse. Especially because Carlos A. also did this to the mother of his son in 2020, when she broke off the relationship. Whether it was due to his parents’ divorce when he was 11 years old, the judge did not really care. A. should stop this aggression, he thought.
“No more contact with your ex in Dinteloord,” the judge ruled. “And you are not allowed to go there anymore.” Furthermore, he was mild for the Rotterdammer. The man was still on probation from a previous conviction for menacing and would have to serve another 90 days if he committed another crime.
no is no
The prosecutor thought that Carlos should now really learn that if a woman says no, he should respect that. She demanded that Carlos serve one month of the previously imposed suspended sentence and another month for the new offenses.
But it did not get that far, because the judge also took A’s job, home and child into account. It therefore remained at 120 hours of community service, instead of the suspended prison sentence, and 80 hours for the new facts. Carlos A. must also undergo mandatory aggression treatment and is not allowed to contact his ex.
In addition, Carlos was given a new stick: four months in prison if he commits another crime within two years. But, that shouldn’t be necessary. The Rotterdammer stated that he will not make the same mistake again and said he would like to receive treatment for his aggression.