Man poured acid on hospital colleagues because they bullied him

Hans J. poured caustic peracetic acid into a warehouse at IJsseland Hospital in Capelle aan den IJssel on May 4th of this year because he was angry about his colleagues bullying him, the 26-year-old man said in the court in Rotterdam on Friday. At least 16 of his colleagues got health complaints, three were seriously injured, and the hospital sustained large amounts of damage because it temporarily had to close some of its departments, the Telegraaf reports.

J. is facing charges of attempted murder or manslaughter, assault and vandalism.

Peracetic acid is used to clean medical instruments. There were no people in the warehouse when J. poured a barrel of the stuff into it, but the acid quickly spread through the air. J. had been working in the hospital as a transport employee for six weeks at the time of the incident. On Friday he told the court that he regretted this action. He confessed that he wanted to destroy everything, but did not know the effects of the acid would be so serious.

The suspect does not want to talk about the bullying in public, because he thinks its too personal. He said that he had been bullied for two years, which resulted in him regularly changing jobs. A number of J.'s colleagues contradicted his claims of bullying.

Experts think that J. suffered from some kind of psychosis and that he became more and more frustrated. J. was not feeling like himself anymore by early May, because of alcohol and drug use and a lack of sleep. On May 4th, "something snapped" in him. He took eight to ten jerrycans with leftover peracetic acid and poured it over furniture, computers and the floor of the warehouse.