The Public Prosecution Service demands an 8-month prison sentence (of which two are conditional) against a 25-year-old suspect from the municipality of Wierden. On December 21 last year, he randomly punched two individuals in a café in Enschede. One of the victims permanently lost sight in one eye as a result. The prosecutor today in the Almelo court stated: “What starts as a pleasant evening, namely a Christmas party with colleagues, ends very badly for both victims.”
The accounts of what exactly happened leading up to the incidents vary; however, surveillance footage clearly shows how it unfolded. There is a conversation ongoing between the suspect and the victims, and suddenly the suspect strikes out with force towards his first victim, and immediately after towards his second victim. According to the Public Prosecution Service, there is no evidence that the suspect acted in self-defense: “He was the attacker and struck first. He was the aggressor.”
The Public Prosecution Service considers assault and aggravated assault to be legally and convincingly proven. “The suspect used significant violence, and his victim will continue to suffer the consequences in the future. Hearing at twenty years old that you will never see with one eye must be terrible.”
The Public Prosecution Service takes it particularly seriously that the suspect is a trained martial artist: “He is expected to be able to control himself, especially since he must know that punching or hitting can cause serious injury.”
After the broadcast of the footage in the investigation program Plaats Delict, the suspect reported to the police and has been arrested and interrogated.