Suspect held in fatal stabbing of Hague doctor facing psychiatric institutionalization

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended compulsory treatment in a psychiatric prison for the man who allegedly stabbed a general practitioner in The Hague in February. According to experts, Michael R. (39) is completely unaccountable because he acted utterly under the influence of a psychosis. The OM accepts this conclusion. “The suspect is not accountable, and no prison sentence can be imposed,” the public prosecutor said.

The man stabbed the doctor several times in the abdomen and arm at the end of a consultation at the practice on Apeldoornselaan on February 21. The GP suffered life-threatening injuries and was in a coma for a while. “The victim looked death straight in the eye,” the prosecutor said. Without the proper help, he would have died, she stressed.

The stabbing still has a major impact on the victim, who still hasn’t resumed his work as a doctor. The prosecutor called the event a “black day” in the life of the GP “with untold suffering” for him and his family. Victim lawyer Sebas Diekstra demanded compensation of around 75,000 euros.

In court, the suspect said he stabbed the doctor because he did not want to help him. The man had been struggling with complaints for some time and felt he was not getting the proper help.

Six months before the stabbing, “things went from bad to worse” for him, the suspect said during the trial. He hardly went outside anymore and became increasingly angry with doctors who would not help him. The suspect apologized at the beginning of the hearing to the victim, who was also in the room. “I could never have imagined myself doing that.”