A 37-year-old resident of Rotterdam has today been sentenced to 24 months in prison for setting fire to a house on Pascalweg in his hometown. 8 months of this sentence should, according to the public prosecutor, be imposed conditionally. There were no injuries in the fire, but the damage was so great that the house became uninhabitable. In addition to a prison sentence, the man must undergo treatment for his psychological problems and addiction.
On July 6, the fire brigade and police were dispatched for a large fire in Rotterdam Lombardijen. The house was fully ablaze and investigations revealed it to be arson. Fires were set in three places in the house, and cameras captured the suspect arriving at the house and leaving shortly thereafter. Images of the arsonist were made public by the police, after which tips came in pointing to the Rotterdam resident.
When the suspect was arrested, he initially denied it but later retracted that statement. He then claimed that he did not know the residents, a Rotterdam alderman and his family, and that he had set the fire on the orders of others. Those intermediaries supposedly acted on behalf of the resident himself to defraud the insurance. To further investigate this account, the National Criminal Investigation Department is currently conducting a separate investigation into these allegations.
Vulnerable Suspect
The Rotterdam resident has been an easy target for the individuals who instructed him to commit arson due to his vulnerability. He suffers from schizophrenia, has significant debts, and has to get by on a small amount each month, as became clear during the hearing. An offer to receive some extra money for a severe act of arson was one he seized eagerly. The public prosecutor finds this troubling. “Arson is a serious offense with many risks involved. A fire is difficult to control, unpredictable, and can easily spread to other properties, causing enormous damage. Fortunately, it only resulted in damage here, and no one was truly in danger. But the damage is considerable. A family with three children has lost almost all their belongings and has since been forced to stay elsewhere. We are almost a year later, and the renovation, the recovery, is still not complete.”