Grandparents acquitted in dog attack that killed their baby grandson

The District Court in Amsterdam acquitted two grandparents in a case regarding the death of their eight-month-old grandson. While the couple was babysitting the boy, their dog, a German Shepherd, bit him on the head when they had let their guard down. The baby died two days later as a result of the bite. The court called it a fatal accident on Friday.

The tragedy occurred in the Diemen home of the victim's grandparents on October 22, 2019. The dog attack was completely unexpected, and it bit the baby at the back of the head. After a struggle, his grandfather managed to free the boy from the animal's mouth. The boy was very seriously injured, and had to be resuscitated at the scene. He was taken to an area hospital, but an operation was unable to save his life. The dog was put down after the incident.

The grandparents were charged with manslaughter. According to the court, they did take risks by leaving the dog and the child in the same room without adequately keeping an eye on the dog, and without additional safety measures. They were unaware of the risks, but those risks alone did not mean it was foreseeable that the dog would attack the child, the court reasoned.

"The couple has successfully completed several behavioral courses," the court said. “There were no signs of aggressive behavior, and the grandparents had been babysitting for months without any incidents.” The court said the baby was not left alone with the dog in the living room, as his grandfather was near them when the attack happened.

The couple therefore did not behave in a criminally culpable manner, according to the court. The court followed the recommendation of the Public Prosecution Service, which had recommended an acquittal on Monday.

The judge recalled that the incident had a major impact on the surviving relatives, and caused them feelings of powerlessness and sadness. He also said that debt in a legal sense is different from its social meaning. Legal culpability requires “significantly culpable carelessness.”

At the time, in 2019, the prosecution had already argued that the two grandparents could not be held criminally responsible and dropped the case. The victim's mother, who is now the former daughter-in-law to the grandparents, was not satisfied with the initial perspective of the prosecution.

She believed that the couple was indeed to blame. The woman used a special court procedure to force the criminal case to be brought to trial. The court then instructed the Public Prosecution Service to prosecute the case.