Man acquitted of stalking charges after spending a year in prison

A 56-year-old man from Arnhem who has been in jail for a year for stalking was acquitted of the crime on Tuesday. “Finally justice,” Berry de R. said at the appeals court in Den Bosch. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) apologized for the unjust prosecution during the appeal.

The court in Arnhem had convicted the man for harassing, threatening, and insulting Sanne S. from Putten. The woman reported the crimes against the man for years, but the reports turned out to be false information.

In 2022, the TV program Zeeman Confronteert dedicated an episode to the case. The program consists of journalist Thijs Zeeman confronting stalkers. The woman had staged the stalking herself and was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for this in May. Her case is still on appeal.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that De R.’s trial had to be redone. The case had severe consequences for De R. The man was thrown out of the clinic where he had met S. and led a wandering existence.

“You were not believed for years,” said the court chair. The man now lives in a sheltered housing facility in Arnhem and is struggling with major health problems. "My client hopes to close a terrible chapter in his life," his lawyer said.

The prosecutor on appeal apologized to De R. for the mistakes that were made. “The Public Prosecution Service failed. We did not see during the prosecution that many things were wrong,” said the Advocate General.

“The OM and the police did not do their job well. I can do nothing else but apologize,” she said. “It is a web of lies that grew to enormous proportions. I see the unjust conviction that resulted from this as one of the worst things.”

Investigators did not check at the time whether the messages had actually been sent from De R.’s phone. The woman had sent the texts to herself by using spoofing (sending messages in the name of another). She also made a Facebook account in the man’s name. “The court's evidentiary construction was deeply flawed,” the lawyer said.

The court immediately ruled and acquitted the man of all charges. The woman will pay the legal costs.