The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is demanding eight years in prison and substantial compensation against Robin R. He is suspected of shooting former professional football player Jergé Hoefdraad. The suspect shot twice with a semi-automatic firearm during a party on August 1, 2021 in Amsterdam Southeast. Hoefdraad was hit in the head, he later died of his injuries.
“The court realizes that you are again confronted with that sad event”, the judge started the session this morning against the relatives of former football player Jergé Hoefdraad and suspect Robin R. After six pro forma sessions, it is now time for the substantive treatment.
On August 1, 2021, during a party in a business premises on Stekkenbergweg in Zuidoost, the former professional football player was shot. He is seriously injured and later dies in hospital. Later, suspect Robin R. is arrested in Belgium. “Twice shooting, one of which in the head”, the public prosecutor described during the indictment. Suspect R. accidentally shot the former football player, according to his own words. This was told by his lawyer Greg Stolk earlier already on AT5 / NH News.
“This is my fault, I’m not denying anything. I’ve often wondered why this had to happen”
There was a disturbance during the party, says the suspect. It was about a riot by, among others, a friend of R. He wanted to appease it, “as I often do”. Someone was asked to hold a firearm and R. says that during that disturbance he was pulled from all sides. The OM has never found out who this person is. He kept the weapon between the waistband of his trousers so that it would not go off: “The weapon went off twice during the entire process. I was shocked,” says the suspect. “Suddenly I hear bam bam, I don’t know how it happened but it happened. It just happened in that whole panic and fear. I’m scared too.”
Tears and regret
R. talks a lot during the session: “It would be about drugs. It would be about a girl. None of it true,” he says emotionally when he describes the situation of that evening. R. and Hoefdraad knew each other. “This is my fault, I’m not denying anything. I’ve told the truth. I’ve often wondered why this had to happen. I don’t know how it all happened. I never saw Mr. Hoefdraad.
Forensic investigations have been carried out into, among other things, the event, the weapon and camera images. “There are two shell casings,” the judge described. Twelve witness statements have been included in the investigation. They describe the argument that took place during the party and how the shooting would have gone. There is no doubt about the number of shots, but it is about the direction of the shooting and whether this was deliberate or not. R. maintains that nothing was conscious: “If I wanted to shoot so badly, I could be standing in a corner somewhere. Why would I be standing in a group?”
The suspect is not doing well, according to a report from the probation service. He has been detained since his arrest in Belgium. R. would be a form of mental retardation, but he is still fully accountable. “After my prison sentence, or whatever I get, I want to be able to give it a place too,” says R. “But I don’t want to have to look back to see if someone wants to harm me. I’m afraid of that, I have I heard about.”
“The hardest thing I’ve had to do as a mother is tell our children that their father was shot”
A superhero
“The murder of our Jergé was completely pointless,” says Hoefdraad’s mother Rinia during her right to speak. “His children have to do without their father who they look up to. Do you have any idea what you did to your own parents? Why did you have to be there?” On the day of death, R. was walking on crutches and had his leg in plaster.
Hoefdraad’s partner Sharmayne is also the mother of his two youngest children. She tells in tears what this does to them. “The hardest thing I’ve had to do as a mother is tell our children that their father was shot.” She shows a video where you see memories of the footballer, hear her children cry in bed and ask for their father. “Their father was a superhero. Your children should stop seeing their father like my children should stop seeing their father. Their father is a murderer.”
The target
According to the public prosecutor, the suspect gives two statements; on the one hand, he says he had the weapon in his hand so that it did not fall out of his trousers. On the other hand, he says he took the gun because the argument had to be calmed down. Many witnesses say the suspect fired shots after the argument subsided and that his hair was only pulled after the shooting. That does not correspond to what R. himself says.
According to the public prosecutor, R. should not have aimed at Hoefdraad. Taking the weapon and firing shots would have been deliberate, but Hoefdraad would not have been the target. According to the suspect, he was not aware that the weapon had been loaded, but the OM believes that there was sufficient time for this on the evening itself. Prison sentence of 8 years is appropriate according to the Public Prosecutor for manslaughter and possession of weapons.
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