The Public Prosecutor will appeal the sentences given to four defendants suspected of involvement with a home invasion in the Drenthe town of Gees where 69-year-old Koert Elders was killed.
By Marieke Bos / Translation by Traci White
On 6 April, two of the suspects were sentenced in court to 12 years in jail. A third suspect was sentence to six years. The sentences were shorter than the Public Prosecutor had recommended because the court accused the Public Prosecutor of being deliberately misleading.
According to AD.nl, the Public Prosecutor allegedly placed a witness statement in a suspect’s criminal record files despite knowing that the statement included inaccuracies. As a result, the case against the fourth suspect was deemed inadmissible and he was only sentenced to 12 years.
The Public Prosecutor denies any intentional wrong doing and describes the mistakes as “regrettable, but not deliberately misleading.” Their decision to appeal the sentence is also in recognition of the wishes of the bereaved. All four criminal cases can be retried at the Court of Appeal.
During the home invasion in June 2016, three men broke into a property on the Dorpsstraat in Gees. The fourth man was reportedly the look out. Koert Elders was tied up with cords and clothing during the robbery. The victim heavily resisted and was beaten up, and eventually passed away due to internal bleeding.
Photo source: Google Maps