The murderer of Rob Sengers in 2004 has to go to jail for the rest of his life. The court in Breda decided this on Tuesday. Jan S. is now 62 years old. Lifelong really means lifelong. That is why judges think extra carefully before imposing the harshest punishment in the law.
The practice is clear: a life sentence can be imposed on anyone over the age of 18 for one or more murders, an attack on the king or the government and for committing a terrorist act.
Nationally, life sentences are imposed at most a few times a year. It is estimated that more than forty people are in prison with life sentences, mainly serious criminals. Some are fugitives, such as the Russians who downed flight MH17 over Ukraine. The sentence is not yet final for fifteen convicts, such as for Jan S.
Dead
But if the sentence becomes final, you will live in prison for the rest of your life. Unless you apply for a pardon after more than 25 years. But practice shows: release is unlikely.
A life sentence remains a rare phenomenon when compared to the tens of thousands of sentences that judges hand out every year. This century, this involved at least five Brabant cases in which a life sentence was imposed. There is a common denominator: it always involved a perpetrator who was involved in several murders:
- The Kurdish businessman Huseyin Baybasin from Rijen. He ordered several murders and hostage takings (2002).
- A Chechen assassin killed three men in the Brandevoort district of Helmond during a rip deal. Both shooter and client received life sentences (2003).
- A man set fire to a neighbor’s house in Jan Hollanderstraat in Eindhoven. Two brothers died in the flames (2004).
- A man shot and killed four women in Helmond and Zwijndrecht, including his ex-girlfriend (2011).
- Onur K. killed both his children, his wife and his mother in Etten-Leur (2020).
To demand
The life sentence is rarely imposed, figures show. The most severe punishment is often demanded by the Public Prosecution Service (OM). If a life sentence is already imposed, it could be dismissed by a higher court.
The perpetrators of the primary school murder (2006) in Hoogerheide and the murder of Kelly in Tilburg (2009) were sentenced to life in prison. But the court subsequently made it a temporary sentence or a combination with TBS. What played a role was the limited extent of a criminal record or the age of the suspect.
Appeal
It can also be the other way around. In the case of the controversial quadruple family murder in Etten-Leur in 2020, the father was first given a thirty-year prison sentence. The conviction was for a single murder and three counts of manslaughter. The court actually saw a triple murder and a manslaughter. And that resulted in a life sentence. An appeal can make a difference and give a convicted person a glimmer of hope.
That could also happen in Rob Sengers’ case. Because Jan S. has now been convicted of a ‘single’ murder of Rob Sengers in 2004. He has already served his 18-year sentence for the murder of Mohamed Yaacoubi in 2002. The Public Prosecution Service suggested during the trial that both murders added together would have resulted in a life sentence. Also according to the applicable laws of the time. The judges now also had to adhere to this.
‘Cold and ruthless’
The priority was ‘retaliation’ and ‘strong action’ before the court in Breda. There was no reason to moderate the punishment, it was said. What the judges took seriously was Jan S.’s long criminal record with bank robberies and that earlier murder.
The court also criticized his attitude: cold, ruthless and disrespectful treatment of the lives of others. Moreover, the judges fear the risk of recurrence. The judges found a temporary and low sentence insufficient. Remained: life in prison.
It is still unknown whether there will be an appeal. But it is obvious.
Life imprisonment for man who shot Rob Sengers in parking lot