Suspect explains about gang of robbers: “I wish I had gone to the police sooner”

Apparently, the names of other suspects were also mentioned, who, according to the Public Prosecution Service, are part of a gang that would have committed a total of seven violent robberies.

Martijn G. has stated, among other things, about his involvement at a robbery on a couple in the Goorn, on August 8, 2020. According to the justice system, the first in a series of robberies. A total of five suspects entered the house by smashing the glass of the rear door.

Bullet misses victim except for her

The residents wake up and soon come face to face with the robbers, who don’t let grass grow over them. “I got a lot of blows with the crowbar against my shoulder and was kicked in my face. They shouted that they wanted money,” said one of the victims in a broadcast of Opsporing Verzocht.

When a struggle ensues, the 69-year-old man is shot. Because he’s just turning his head, the bullet misses him by a hair. His wife also gets a gun pushed into her back. The perpetrators eventually make off with a small amount of money and telephones.

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Suspect makes statement

The 27-year-old Heerhugowaarder is one of the three suspects that the Public Prosecution Service has identified. In addition to Martijn G., it concerns Glenn V. from Noord-Scharwoude and Mark V. from Opmeer.

According to lawyer Thijs Kapinga, it appears that his client G. wanted to report earlier and wanted to be open. That he didn’t do that in the first place had to do with his girlfriend. She was pregnant with their child. “He didn’t want to sit while he had a child,” the lawyer explained.

But when the pregnancy went wrong and the relationship ended, he still made a statement. According to his lawyer, his client said: “I was only involved in the first robbery. And look what I could have prevented if I had gone to the police earlier.”

Deadly Robbery

With this he seems to refer to, among other things: the deadly robbery at Berkhouter Sjaak Groot almost a year later, on June 14, 2021. He was shot dead during a struggle with his attackers. Six suspects are on trial in that case.

Martijn G. is not one of them, but apparently has made incriminating statements in which other suspects have also been named. His lawyer does not want to say exactly what he has said, except that it is only about the robbery in De Goorn.

G. also wants to answer questions in court. But not if there are other suspects around. And that’s what might be waiting for him. The aim is to have all seven suspects interrogated simultaneously in court on 23 January for a pre-trial hearing, during which all parties can make their investigation wishes known and the substantive treatment is prepared.

G. does not want to be in court with other suspects

“I’ll just say it. If they all have to get there at the same time, then my client will not come,” said lawyer Thijs Kapinga, who also did not request that Martijn G. be released from custody. In any case, he thinks that G.’s case can be kept separate from the rest.

“He is a suspect in one case and has nothing to do with the other cases. So does he have to participate in the mill that runs for the rest? That is at the expense of my client.” The judge will make a decision on this later.