NOS News•today, 2:29 PM
A 27-year-old Rotterdam resident has been sentenced to two years in prison, of which ten months are conditional, for his involvement in causing an explosion at the house of a Vlaardingen plumber. The man was the driver of someone else who planted the explosive. In addition to the prison sentence, the man was also sentenced to pay compensation of 26,000 euros.
The Public Prosecution Service had demanded 2.5 years in prison against him, of which six months were conditional. The fact that the judge imposed a lower sentence than was required is because the suspect did not plant the explosive.
In addition, the fact that he has not previously been convicted for similar offenses and that he has otherwise had his life well on track played a role in the sentence. The judge therefore called it “all the more incomprehensible why the suspect took this turn in his life”.
Frequent target of explosions
The Rotterdam resident was arrested last December, shortly after an explosion at the house of the plumber who is regularly the target of explosions. A witness had written down the license plate number of a car that drove away from the plumber’s home. It turned out to be the suspect’s mother’s car.
Since April last year, there have been eleven attacks with heavy fireworks on the plumber: at his business premises, his company cars and his home. Nothing is known about a motive. The police have arrested six suspects.
The plumber has been under an area ban since last Saturday. He is no longer allowed to enter the neighborhood where a fire was set in the night from Friday to Saturday in a house registered in his mother’s name. He is also no longer allowed to visit his own house.
