Two soldiers from Tilburg and Veghel have been punished by the Military Chamber at the court in Arnhem because they have dealt dangerously with a weapon. This happened last summer during a mission in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The two soldiers shot with a gun in the presence of colleagues, of whom a tinnitus (ringing in the ears) sustained. Both soldiers receive a community service.
The incident with the Tilburger of 25 occurred on 15 June of last year. The man asked a colleague of 23 from IJsselstein in Utrecht if he could hold his weapon. A new grip tape had been installed and the Tilburger wanted to feel if it was nice.
The 23-year-old man thought that was good and handed over his weapon without taking the prescribed security measures. He did not discharge the weapon and did not offer the weapon well. The Tilburger thought the weapon was unloaded and crowded.
Fingered
According to the judge, he unintentionally fired a shot. The bullet damaged a wall of an interior space and could have just touched other soldiers or goods. His colleague was so close that he sustained hearing damage. Both were tapped by the judge: the Tilburger was sentenced to 40 hours of community service; The man from IJsselstein a fine of 750 euros.
A 36-year-old soldier from Veghel went wrong in Baghdad at the end of July last year. He wanted to carry out maintenance on his weapon, but insufficiently checked whether there was a warehouse in the weapon. Furthermore, he did not check the rifle’s room properly. He knew that the weapon was half loaded, loaded the weapon and pulled the trigger, which unintentionally fired an (in the eyes of the right).
According to the court, this could have been prevented. Happiness in an accident was that people who were close to him were released with the shock. The bullet could have hit one of them and that must pay for the Veghel soldier with a 30 -hour community service.
‘No serious negligence’
A military of 32 from Helmond also had to answer. During an exercise in August 2023 in Havelte-West, he fired a sharp pattern. He had the warehouse of his weapon in the dark and filled with a fast charger under time pressure. The Helmond soldier stated that during the exercise the stock of ammunition had been redistributed and that he exchanged warehouses with others. It was not his fault that he had shot sharply instead of a practice pattern, the judge ruled. He should have checked it better, but there was no serious negligence. The man was acquitted.
In Hoogerheide, a shot was also fired in June last year, which could have ended worse. In this case, according to the court, a personal security instructor from Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel could be blamed for everything. He did not realize that a weapon he wore with him was half loaded and fired a shot. And that was so dangerous that the judge imposed a 30 -hour community service sentence.