Man convicted of stabbing 2 train travelers with hypodermic needle; No extra prison time
The Noord-Nederland court has sentenced a 37-year-old man from Houten to 96 days in prison for attacking two train passengers with a hypodermic needle on an intercity train from Zwolle to Groningen last year. The sentence is equal to what the man has already served in pre-trial detention, so he will not go back into prison.
The court convicted the man of two counts of assault, with diminished accountability. According to psychiatrists who examined him, the man likely acted under the influence of psychosis.
The incident happened on May 29, 2025. On the intercity train from Zwolle to Groningen, the man indiscriminately stabbed two random passengers with hypodermic needles without warning or provocation. The train had to make an emergency stop in Meppel.
The police arrested the man about 30 minutes later in a ditch near the station. He had multiple needles in his pockets.
While the physical consequences of the suspect’s attacks were relatively minor for the victims, he still created a “very threatening situation,” the court said, substantiating why it deemed a prison sentence appropriate.
“Following this attack, a period of intense uncertainty arose for these two victims, as it turned out that the suspect was taking HIV medication. As a result, they had to take medication and wait in uncertainty to see if they might have been infected. Fortunately, this was not the case,” the court said. “Other passengers also experienced feelings of fear.”
The sentence is equal to what the Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended.
