Seven years in prison for attempted murder of ex-partner in Ostend

The 55-year-old woman received three stab wounds, but Kurt D. denied that he wanted to take the victim’s life.

In the night of 2 to 3 July 2021, the defendant moved to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment on Cardijnplein. D. placed a love letter and a box of chocolates at her front door, after which he waited for the victim outside. When the woman came home, she was stabbed in the back, chest and hand by her ex-boyfriend. The victim lost her spleen in the incident.

The investigation showed that the Ostend citizen had been harassing his ex-partner for some time. At the end of June, he had already damaged the lock on the door of her storage room three times. D. also made off with the victim’s jewelry. Even after the facts he continued to harass her, because the fifty-year-old even sent two letters from prison. In addition, he previously ran into the light for stalking a previous partner. In those circumstances, the prosecution demanded a strict effective punishment.

The defense unsuccessfully requested that the offenses be reclassified to intentional premeditated assault and battery. According to master Bram Elyn, the knife actually served to puncture the victim’s tires on her bicycle. Kurt D. hoped for a five-year suspended sentence, with the exception of fourteen months in pre-trial detention.