Groningen man who threatened butcher shop employees with death gets 10-month sentence
A 23-year-old radical activist from Nieuwolda who threatened employees of 13 butcher shops in Groningen and Drenthe with death if they did not permanently close their stores has been sentenced to 10 months in prison.
The Groningen District Court ruled that Bas V. had already served his sentence during pretrial detention, allowing him to be released immediately, RTV Noord reports. The court also imposed a probation period of more than three years, during which V. must not commit another crime.
V. was arrested a year ago after sending threatening emails to butcher shops. In the messages, he said he would stab employees to death unless the businesses shut down permanently. Seven of the 13 targeted shops filed police reports. One butcher shop initially believed the email was a joke and responded, which helped police identify the sender. Overall, the threats left employees at the shops deeply shaken.
When police searched V.’s phone and computer, investigators found a detailed plan describing what crimes he was planning to commit and how. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has said it considers the evidence against the man "serious", accusing him of preparing murder with a terrorist motive. The court did not convict him on the terrorism-related preparation charge, saying: “The texts on his phone say something about his world of thought, but not that he wanted to disrupt society with them.”
A probation service investigation found that V.’s radical beliefs were partly connected to autism, which contributed to rigid thinking patterns. The investigation also found that he struggles with depression and frequently uses marijuana. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, he had no meaningful daily routine and spent most of his time in his room. While in prison, V. reportedly did relatively well because he had social contact and structure in his daily life.
Prosecutors had originally demanded a four-year prison sentence, arguing that V. was motivated by radical views about animal and environmental protection. V. later said that he has some "angry thoughts” about these topics.
Nieuwolda is a village in the Groningen municipality of Oldambt and is about 30 kilometres from the provincial border with Drenthe.
