Three girls aged 16, 17 and 18 were sentenced to youth detention and community service for the attempted manslaughter of a supervisor at the youth care institution ‘t Noaberhuus in Emmen. The 17-year-old was also sentenced to juvenile detention.
Two of them lived in the institution. The 17-year-old had lived there, but was no longer allowed to go there. On April 25, the three decided to steal knives from a store in Emmen. The teenager who was no longer welcome would be smuggled in through the emergency door. Two employees saw this action and intervened.
The 17-year-old showed her knife and made stabbing movements at an employee. A struggle ensued and the supervisor slammed the girl’s hand containing the knife against the wall. The knife fell to the ground. Everyone jumped at the knife. A second employee kicked the knife away. The 18-year-old pulled her knife from her pants and gave it to the 17-year-old.
The emergency services had now been called and the trio fled. With their joint plan, the teenagers had taken the risk that in the event of a confrontation they would not only be threatened with a knife, but also stabbed, the judge ruled. A knife can be a deadly weapon and this could have ended differently. Attempted manslaughter for all three of them has therefore been proven.
They were also guilty of threatening two employees and stealing the knives. In October, the 17-year-old assaulted two employees during a fit of rage in an institution in Nijmegen, where she was staying at the time. She stabbed one supervisor in the leg with a ballpoint pen and twisted the wrist of the other. “She showed no respect for their physical and mental integrity,” the judge said.
All three suffer from psychological disorders, which makes them less accountable. Help and guidance is the highest priority, the judge believes. The eldest was sentenced to eight months of juvenile detention, three months of which were conditional. The youngest has been sentenced to 90 days of conditional juvenile detention and 90 hours of community service.
In addition to more than eight months of youth detention, the 17-year-old was also sentenced to juvenile detention. Without coercive treatment, the risk of aggressive behavior is too great for her. The three must pay two victims a total of 1,750 euros in damages.