Two years in prison for stabbing in Ostend

On October 5, 2021, a witness saw two men fighting in the Dokter Verhaeghestraat in Ostend. A man in a blue jacket and jeans is said to have used a knife, while the victim was holding a pair of scissors. Amin B. was in mortal danger for several hours due to the knife stab in his left thigh.

To give evidence

The victim’s partner identified two acquaintances as possible suspects. One of them explained that he only intervened when Amin B. was stabbed by someone on a bicycle.

A witness recognized Kamel S. (36) as the man who rubbed the blood off the bicycle and walked away. DNA of the defendant was also found on the bicycle in question.

Previous convictions

The thirty-year-old previously had four criminal convictions, mainly for theft and beatings. The Algerian from Roubaix could only be caught when he reappeared in Ostend on March 31, 2022. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of 4.2 grams of cannabis and 1,450 euros.

Telephone investigations showed that he had many contacts within the drug environment. That may have been the motive for the stabbing.

Denial

The Public Prosecution Service demanded three years in prison, but Kamel S. denied any involvement in the facts. He says he bought a mobile phone in Roubaix half an hour before the stabbing that afternoon. The defense even produced an invoice and proof of payment.

“So he cannot have committed the facts, because he was not in Ostend at all,” said lawyer Mathieu Langerock. Possession of a fake Italian identity card was not denied.