Up to 8 years in prison for robbing Dutch celebrities

The court in Rotterdam on Friday imposed prison sentences of up to eight years on the suspects of a series of violent robberies, including that of YouTube star Nikkie de Jager and a failed robbery of football analyst Rene van der Gijp. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had demanded up to ten years in prison.

The men committed four robberies and three burglaries in a varying composition in 2020. They struck in Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Rockanje, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Mijnsheerenland, and Uden.

The court did not see enough evidence to conclude that the eight suspects, aged 21 to 33 from Rotterdam and Ridderkerk, formed a criminal organization, as the OM argued. According to the court, it could not be established that there was a formal partnership. It, therefore, acquitted all eight suspects of this charge.

Armed men robbed Nikkie de Jager and her fiance at their home on 8 August 2020. They tied the makeup artist and her fiance up with duct tape, cable ties, and ropes and stole valuable jewelry and a Louis Vuitton bag.

The court sentenced Rotterdam resident Eddie N. (25), whose DNA was found in the influencer’s home, to 5.5 years in prison, instead of the eight years the OM demanded. Hamza T. (23), whose car was used in the crime, will spend seven years in prison, less than the demanded ten years. The court acquitted Said O. (33) of this armed robbery because, based on his telephone records, it cannot be proven that he was at De Jager’s residence during the robbery.

The court sentenced 21-year-old Younes S. from Ridderkerk to eight years in prison, one year more than the OM demanded. Among other things, he was involved in the failed robbery of Rene van der Gijp, in which the perpetrators smashed his armored car windows in the driveway of his Dordrecht home. The intention was likely to rob him of his Rolex.

S.’s conviction is based, among other things, on telecom data. He had 95 notes on his phone of license plates, addresses, and watches. According to the court, his telephone beamed on a transmission tower near Dordrecht on the night of the crime, as did the phone of a man who had already been convicted of complicity in this crime.

The other suspects were sentenced to prison terms of one year, 2.5 years, three years, and twice four years.