Bonnie & Clyde first court appearance today

The court proceedings against Marcos van der P. and Enise B., the criminal duo known as the Dutch Bonnie & Clyde who left a trail of violence, assault and destruction behind them earlier this year, will see its first court day today, the NOS reports.

According to the NOS, Van der P. may not be in court today, but Enise B. will. There will be a trial hearing at the court in Assen. It might be that the court merely decides to lengthen their prison terms.

In The Netherlands, the duo were quickly nicknamed Bonnie & Clyde. The two traveled across the North and the East of the country, not hesitating to use violence at every roadblock. They broke into several homes, and sometimes kidnapped their victims, putting these in the back seat of a car, releasing them later. One such victim was kidnapped and taken to a camping in Enschede where he was shot in his stomach, only just surviving.

The police executed a manhunt for the couple. They were finally caught on the 26th of February in the German Schwerte. The two were extradited to The Netherlands in May. Last week, the couple confessed.

Today's trial hearing, in Dutch 'pro-forma' hearing, is mainly meant to handle the formalities in the case.

Criminal lawyer Mark Teurlings tells WNL Vandaag de Dag that the hearing today is only going to address Enise B., and that this may be because the court may want to lighten her sentence, to make the case that she wasn't as heavily involved as her partner. The case today will not handle evidence, which will come at a later date.