Angered man who drove into crowd, injuring 5, jailed for 2 years
A 21-year-old man from Limburg was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention, six months of which conditionally suspended, for deliberately crashing his car into the audience at a racing event in Leende in September last year. The court in Den Bosch found him guilty of multiple counts of attempted manslaughter, RTL Nieuws reports.
The man was a participant in the Kempen Cross in September. When the organization decided to cancel the final race for safety reasons, the man demanded that his registration fee - a few dozen euros - be refunded. The organization refused and a fight broke out. The man stormed off, got into his car, and crashed into the audience at 60 kilometers per hour. Five people, including a child, were injured and had to be treated in hospital.
The man told the court that he did not intend to hit anyone, but the court did not believe this. He sped up, drove towards the crowd, and made no attempts to brake.
The court sentenced the man under juvenile law because he has a mild intellectual disability, which makes him less accountable, according to the broadcaster. In addition to his time in juvenile detention, the man's driver's license was suspended for five years, and he is banned from participating in motorsport events for two years.