The 31-year-old man from Den Bosch who placed a fake bomb at the police station in his hometown in February of that year has been sentenced to 57 days in prison. But that sentence is equal to his pre-trial detention and that means that the man does not have to go to cell again. This has been determined by the court in Den Bosch.
On February 17 of this year, police officers found a suspicious package in front of the main entrance of their office on the Vogelstraat in Den Bosch. The office and a number of surrounding buildings were evacuated as a precaution. The access roads around the office were also closed. A robot from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD) took X-rays which showed that the package was not an explosive.
Homemade fake bomb
The package was a fake bomb: a black package wrapped in black tape and with threads sticking out on the side. The suspect had made it himself and put it there. According to the court, his intention was to make others believe that the package could actually explode.
“The bomb was made with care and actually looked like a homemade explosive,” the court said. “At first glance, the contents also seemed to be composed like an explosive. For example, after opening the package, there was a row of red tubes that could contain an explosive.” It created a ‘very threatening situation’ for the officers present. “It’s not for nothing that the entire office has been evacuated.”
A month earlier, on January 18, the suspect also threatened police officers. He walked into the police station and said, among other things, that he wanted to speak to one of the officers, otherwise he would blow up the police station. He then smashed a splash screen. According to the court, this made a great impression on the employees behind the counter. “One employee even felt so threatened that she used the alarm button.”
Not fully accountable
The suspect was previously convicted of a death threat. The court also took into account that he was diagnosed with an “unspecified schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorder.” Mandatory care was already imposed at the time of the previous conviction.
The court finds that the accused is not fully accountable. This leads to the decision of an unconditional prison sentence equal to the pre-trial detention, namely 57 days. The suspect does not have to go to prison again.
This is what the investigation into the package looked like in February: