A nineteen-year-old boy who would have set off ‘bombs’ in Oss this summer does not have to go back to prison from the Public Prosecution Service (OM). Because the boy is suffering from psychosis, the public prosecutor demands that the boy be treated in an institution.
The hearing lasted almost three hours on Friday, in which the young suspect from Oss was tried. He is said to have set off four pipe bombs on Professor Regoutstraat in his hometown in July last year. The bombs were detonated twice. The explosions caused a lot of unrest in the neighborhood and on one occasion even two houses had to be evacuated.
After an investigation by the police, the boy’s DNA was found on one of the bombs. Although according to his lawyer he is not averse to setting off fireworks, he denies having anything to do with it. The boy has no idea how his DNA ended up on the explosive, but the Public Prosecution Service is convinced. Based on the DNA find, he also finds it plausible that the boy had something to do with it on all occasions.
The defendant’s lawyer disagrees. “You cannot just establish that he did this,” says Bart Frencken. He apparently had that bomb in his hands, but other people may have given it to him. It is not clear when that came on.”
“He went through a period in which he was mentally very ill and is recovering from that.”
During the hearing, the boy had great difficulty answering questions. When he was arrested in February, he turned out to be psychotic. It is not clear whether he was last summer. That makes the case even more complicated, according to his lawyer. “My client feels very bad. He has gone through a period in which he was mentally very ill and is recovering from that. He has been in pre-trial detention since February and that is also difficult for him.”
The Public Prosecution Service therefore does not demand a prison sentence, but does ask the judge to impose treatment to prevent the boy from making a mistake again. That is the most severe youth measure. The judge will make a decision in two weeks.
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