A 60-year-old man from Hoogeveen has been convicted of shooting an air rifle at a scooter rider in his hometown. The bullet hit the victim’s jaw.
The judge imposed a community service order of 80 hours and a suspended prison sentence of six weeks on the Hoogevener for attempted aggravated assault.
The reason for this shooting incident is a message on Facebook. “That big fat toad on his red scooter was there again,” the Hoogevener wrote on his public page. A man from Ruinen felt addressed and drove his scooter to the home of the suspect in Hoogeveen.
The man yelled, “I don’t have a red scooter”. He got no response. De Ruiner drove circles in the vicinity of the suspect’s home. As he passed by for the second time, he saw a barrel out of a window pointing at him. He heard a slap and felt a pain in his chin.
De Ruiner immediately drove to the police and reported the incident. The officers saw a red spot on his jaw. There was a grazing mark on the helmet, presumably from the bullet. The police searched the home of the Hoogevener and almost immediately found an air rifle with bullets.
De Hoogevener denies that he shot with his air rifle, let alone at people. He had had the rifle for years, he said. The man used to shoot wood pigeons and crows, but he didn’t do that for a long time. The rifle was moved to Hoogeveen.
Immediately after the incident, a new message appeared on the Hoogevener’s Facebook page. “Bullet in the helmet,” the man wrote. A striking message, according to the public prosecutor and the judge. “That was a response to a YouTube video from a friend,” said the suspect.
The Hoogevener and the Ruiner once got to know each other via Facebook and were friends on the platform. He had an outdated program and his comrade from Ruinen installed a newer version. “He could spy on me with that,” said the Hoogevener. Since then the friendship is over and he says he is being harassed.
The declarant also appeared at the hearing and sputtered heavily. He was just being harassed by the Hoogevener, the man shouted. He demanded 5,000 euros in damages.
That judge, who found the statement of the Hoogevener implausible, decided to lower that amount to 1500 euros. The punishment she imposed is equal to the demand.
That also means a contact and location ban with the Ruiner. “Although the declarant is not banned, he in turn is not allowed to make contact,” the prosecutor and the judge explained.