Woman sentenced to 12 months, 7 suspended, after false bomb threat at police station
On the afternoon of January 17, 2025, a 46-year-old woman entered the Paardenveld police station in Utrecht wearing dark clothing, with her face mostly covered, and carrying two bags. She told the officer that she has a bomb, which turned out to be not true. The Central Netherlands District Court has now sentenced her to 12 months in prison for threatening police employees and visitors at the police station with a terrorist crime. However, seven months of the sentence were suspended, meaning she will only serve the five-month unconditional portion if she violates the conditions of her probation.
When the woman walked into the station in January last year, she told the officer that she had a bomb and wanted to turn herself in. Someone pressed the emergency button, and the police station was quickly evacuated.
During the evacuation, the suspect placed her bags on the floor and sat down next to them. While sitting, she repeatedly bent forward from the waist. She again stated that she had a bomb and shouted phrases in Arabic, including “Allahu Akbar.”
After some time, she stood up and walked outside, where she was arrested. During the arrest, she told officers that she had left the bomb on the station’s counter. However, an inspection found that there was no bomb in the bags or at the station.
A psychiatric evaluation found that the woman has a personality disorder, for which she will also need to undergo treatment. The doctor advised the court to hold her partially responsible for the threat, which did influence its decision.
The psychiatrist also found indications that the woman acted deliberately and that the threat was likely a cry for help. Despite these circumstances, the court emphasized that making a threat involving terrorism is a serious offense. However, judges said that another prison term would not be the most effective solution.
The court also took into account that the case file did not show that the woman held extremist beliefs. The court therefore imposed an unconditional prison sentence of five months, equal to the time she had already spent in pretrial detention.
To provide a warning and ensure that the woman is monitored, the court added a suspended prison sentence of seven months with a probation period of three years.
