No prison sentence for fatal stabbing on Rosmalen cafe terrace

The 18-year-old woman who fatally stabbed 22-year-old Jordy Gruijters on a terrace in Rosmalen last March was sentenced to prison time by the juvenile court in Den Bosch. The court concluded in its verdict that she stabbed him in self-defense.

The woman from Rosmalen was convicted and sentenced on Friday to 120 hours of community service for assaulting the Gruijters' sister and girlfriend. Sixty hours were conditionally suspended. In December, the Public Prosecution Service had demanded 100 hours of community service and a month of juvenile detention, with the jail time suspended if she met certain conditions.

Jordy Gruijters, from Den Bosch, died on March 19 last year, a Saturday evening. He was stabbed in the chest with a cutlery knife. The Public Prosecution Service decided to push forward with the case against the suspect, who was 17 at the time. She was initially accused of manslaughter and two cases of assault, but video images from the scene led prosecutors to conclude that there were exceptional circumstances, and the court agreed.

The suspect had the carving knife in her hand when she was attacked by Gruijters and was forced to defend herself. Therefore, she was acquitted of manslaughter and wrongful death. She also had no intention of stabbing him to death, according to the court, which said the action was a reflex. "She was not aware that she had used the knife. She wanted to keep him at a distance and only realized she had hit him when she saw the blood on the knife," the court said.

An argument preceded the stabbing at 9:30 p.m. that evening, in which the suspect's sister and Gruijters' girlfriend were punched in the street. The girlfriend was heavily pregnant at the time. Gruijters was then called to the scene, who confronted the suspect and a 16-year-old friend of hers on the terrace. According to eyewitnesses, he came walking "aggressively and terrifyingly onto the terrace."

The court says that there was an instantaneous attack and an acute threat. The suspect felt seriously threatened, the court said. "She literally had her back against the wall. She had no real opportunity to escape Jordy's attack."