Diabetic who drove into Amsterdam crowd won’t be prosecuted
A diabetic man who crashed his car into a group of pedestrians at Amsterdam Central Station on June 10th last year, will not be prosecuted, the Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday. "Extensive investigation by the police showed that there was no intent in play but that the motorist - a diabetic patient - had become ill due to a low blood sugar level", the Prosecutor said.
Seven pedestrians, mainly tourists, were injured in the collision.
The man did a breathalyzer test for the police immediately after the accident, and this revealed that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system. This was also evident from blood tests done by the Netherlands Forensic Institute. The police questioned paramedics who responded to the scene of the accident, the victims and various witnesses, and also searched the man's home.
In order to definitely exclude all other scenarios, an additional investigation was done by a medical expert. This investigation came to the same conclusion as the previous ones - that the accident happened because the motorist's blood sugar level was too low and he became unwell.
"Now that the investigation has shown that there was no intent and no accusation can be made, the Public Prosecutor has decided not to prosecute the motorist and to dismiss the case. The people involved have been informed about this decision." the Prosecutor said.
The accident immediately sparked fear of terrorism in the Netherlands, to the extent that the police and the municipality of Amsterdam repeatedly had to state that this was an accident and that there are no signs pointing to a deliberate attack.
A large part of the suspicion that arose after the accident, arose when it was revealed the 45-year-old man was of Moroccan descent. In August website Geenstijl published the man's full identity. The site published a screenshot of a police system, leading to an investigation into information leaks at the police.
