The fact that Omar E. is going to prison for four years for killing two mothers and two of their children in Oud Gastel is a hard blow for the surviving relatives. They are ‘defeated, angry and disappointed’ about the sentence imposed by the court on Friday. This is what Jeroen Baardemans from ‘On behalf of the Family’ tells us, who assists the families of the victims.
The surviving relatives have been affected by the judge’s ruling, because the sentence is much lower than the previous demand of the Public Prosecution Service (OM) of eight years against Omar E. in this case. “If the verdict is half that, it will cause a lot of sadness,” Baardemans responds. “It is a small sentence if you look at the possibilities offered by the law.”
At the beginning of September 2022, the Roosendaler killed the mothers and children in Oud Gastel at high speed. That happened on a priority road where you can drive a maximum of fifty kilometers per hour. E. drove into the victims’ car at 155 kilometers per hour. A nine-year-old girl was injured, but was the only one to survive the enormous blow.
According to Baardemans, the relatives believe the punishment is completely disproportionate to the loss of four young people. There is one small bright spot for them, he also says. That is that the judge has identified E. as the only person to blame for what happened. The court dismissed the suggestion that mother Regina, as the driver of the victims’ car, had not adhered to the priority rules.
Explanation from the judge
Why the court imposed a lower sentence than the previous demand of the Public Prosecution Service has to do with how the judges viewed E.’s act. Justice accused E. of two facts: killing four people and injuring the girl. The court explained in detail to the relatives on Friday that this allowed the justice department to demand a higher sentence. But the fact that the court sees the deaths and injuries as the result of one and the same accident is the reason why the sentence is lower.
In Crime Explained, Sven de Laet shows how the accident could happen:
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Mothers and children killed: Omar E. (28) jailed for four years
