Today, a 38-year-old Briton was sentenced to three years in prison for the attempted manslaughter of a police officer. When the man is arrested on a road in Zaandam on suspicion of previous identity fraud, he decides to accelerate. This while the officer on duty is still half in the car. He is dragged for meters at 60 km per hour.
The prosecutor spoke in clear language this afternoon: “The officer could have ended up under the wheels of the car, hit the asphalt with his unprotected head and at high speed, or he could have broken his neck or other serious and potentially fatal could sustain injuries.”
Fears of death
According to the public prosecutor, the event on January 29 last year was a ‘very intense’ and ‘fearful’ experience for the officer. Even when the officer shouted ‘stop’, the suspect continued to press the accelerator. Instead, he punched the officer in the face several times. According to the Public Prosecution Service, this shows that the suspect was in no way aware of the mortal danger he was putting the victim in. “He only thought about himself and his flight.”
Arrested in France
When the English suspect let go of the police officer after twenty seconds – and landed on the asphalt with a loud bang – he ran off. Partly due to a broadcast of the TV program Opsporing Verzocht, the 38-year-old suspect was arrested a few months later in France. He was subsequently extradited to the Netherlands, where he has since been held in pre-trial detention.
The Public Prosecution Service considers both attempted manslaughter and the suspicion of identity fraud proven and demanded three years’ unconditional prison sentence for the driver, plus a driving ban for two years. He was heavily blamed for committing the offense against an officer in office. The verdict will be announced on January 25.
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