On the night of August 31 to September 1, a 27-year-old Rotterdammer is killed in a hit-and-run. The driver of the car, a 28-year-old Rotterdammer, is found to be heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs and does not have a drivers license. Today, the Public Prosecution Service demanded 8 years of imprisonment and a 10-year driving ban against him.
It is a busy night in the city. The terraces are full, and the suspect and his girlfriend are also out, eating and drinking at a hospitality establishment. They order various cocktails and use cocaine. When they have had enough, they walk to a parking garage on the Coolsingel, and he decides to drive because his girlfriend, the owner of the car, is feeling unwell.
Before they reach the parking garage, police officers see the couple staggering through the city at various moments. They speak with slurred speech and can barely stand. Once they have disappeared from sight, it is later seen on camera footage that they drive out of the parking garage. Based on the camera footage in the criminal file, it can also be seen which route the car approximately took. Witnesses testify that the driver is speeding through the streets and ultimately hits the cycling victim on the Warande. Emergency services rush to the scene and attempt to resuscitate him, but it is too late. The 27-year-old man is already deceased.
Witnesses also see the car speeding away afterward. The police discover the car a kilometer away and arrest the suspect. At that moment, he still cannot stand properly, as reported by the officers involved in the arrest. “Blood tests showed that the suspect had over five times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood,” said the public prosecutor. An investigation of the cars onboard computer shows that the car was traveling at 120 kilometers per hour just before the accident. No skid marks were found at the scene of the accident.
Not the First Time
The suspect was previously involved in a serious accident in 2019. At that time, he was also under the influence of cocaine. He sustained a spinal cord injury, and his girlfriend and another person were injured. At that time, he drove against the direction of the roundabout. In 2022, he was caught driving without a license. “In 2023, the suspect was arrested in Belgium for the same offense and was found to be under the influence of cocaine,” said the public prosecutor during the hearing. “Despite all the warnings he has received about driving under the influence and driving without a license, he decided to drive extremely fast through the built-up area on the night of September 1 under precisely those circumstances. For that reason, I find manslaughter legally and convincingly proven.”
The Suspects Girlfriend Also Deserves Punishment
Alongside the driver, the 23-year-old girlfriend of the victim was also on trial today. She faced a community service sentence of 150 hours and a conditional prison sentence of one month with a probation period of two years. It is not standard in traffic cases for a passenger to be prosecuted. In this case, according to the Public Prosecution Service, it is appropriate. “She is an accomplice because she gave the keys of her car to her boyfriend, knowing that he had drunk too much, had no drivers license, had used drugs, and had caused previous accidents,” the prosecutor told the defendants and the court. For these offenses, she was also previously convicted in Belgium. “
The public prosecutor is very critical of both defendants for making the choices that led to the death of a young man. “Through their actions, the life of a young man has come to an end. A life that was still full of possibilities and dreams. That he was taken from life in this way has caused unimaginable grief to his family, friends, and colleagues. They have forever held him in their hearts and miss him tremendously.”
The court will deliver its verdict in two weeks.