The court of appeal has sentenced John S. to 30 years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment. In 2022, S. murdered a shoemaker in Vlissingen and a woman and a girl at a care farm in Alblasserdam.
On May 4, S. shot the shoemaker in Vlissingen, claiming he wanted to test his newly acquired weapon. Two days later, he killed a 34-year-old employee and a 16-year-old guest at Tro Tardi care farm.
S. was arrested shortly after the attack in an Alblasserdam park; he called 112 himself and confessed. The public prosecutor initially demanded 30 months imprisonment plus psychiatric treatment, but the court imposed a life sentence instead, allowing for review after 25 years.
The prosecutor appealed, citing S. as a “seriously mentally ill man.” Experts from the Pieter Baan Center assessed S. as having diminished responsibility, with a high risk of reoffending. The court has now adopted the prosecutor’s demand for 30 years with psychiatric treatment, as reported by Omroep Zeeland.
The court’s chairman stated, “Your actions are so horrific that retribution must be the priority.”
Source: NOS