Cop appeals conviction in teen's fatal roadway crash

The police officer who ran over 18 year old Memphis van Veen in 2013 is appealing against the sentence he received by the court, AD reports.

The officer hit Memphis with his car while she was crossing a road on her scooter in Eindhoven. She died in the accident. The officer was driving the last vehicle of a motorcade, on his way to the scene of a disturbed man threatening to shoot both police officers and himself.

Memphis parents had to initiate an Article 12 procedure to get the case in court. The court convicted the officer of reckless driving a suspended six month driver's license suspension with a two year probationary period. The officer and Public Prosecutor are now appealing against the conviction.

The parents' lawyer, Marjin Zuketto, told AD that this appeal was a "hammer blow" for Memphis' parents. The lawyer called the officer's conviction a "trashy punishment". "But it did give the parents some peace and the officer can continue doing his job. And still they appeal? This whole thing is a cover up of mistakes of the SWAT team."