Man who took four hostages in Ede cafe is facing a year in prison

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended 12 months in prison and mandatory psychiatric treatment at a TBS facility on Tuesday against 28-year-old Corné H., who took four people hostage in a cafe in Ede for hours on March 30. The man was armed with knives and threatened to blow up the street.

In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecutor asked the court to ban H. from entering the area where the cafe is located, which the victims also requested in case H. ever feels the need to visit the location while on either supervised or unsupervised leave during or after his sentence. The OM also demanded a measure which H. could force him to remain under supervision after the end of his prison sentence and treatment.

The victims were all employees of Café Petticoat. They were cleaning up after closing time when H. stormed in, showing the employees that he had two knives. He searched the male employees during the hostage situation and had the women search each other. He told them all to sit on the ground with their hands against the wall.

According to the prosecutor, this was not a hostage situation, as the legal definition goes, because the suspect was not trying to force anyone into doing something. Although he asked for 10,000 euros and for the police to let him go, it later became apparent in conversations with the psychologist and psychiatrist that he was not interested in money but that it was a cry for help. He said that he did not know why he was there.

For this reason, the prosecutor asked that he be acquitted of this charge. But she added that H. robbed the victims of their freedom for hours. “The consequences for the victims were significant,” the prosecutor said.

H.’s parent suspected instantly that their son was involved upon hearing the news because he had changed his medication two days earlier, and his bed at the assisted living facility was empty.

The father went to the city center straight away to notify the police about his son’s condition. The prosecutor said that she respected this immensely. “The police were given an image of the man because of the identification of the perpetrator, and the negotiator made contact with him, which led to a non-violent arrest."

The victims asked that H. be given an area ban of five years. The hostage situation was a “very terrifying situation,” said their attorney on Tuesday in the court in Zutphen.

“It was like they had ended up in a bad movie,” the lawyer said. The victims said in their testimonies that they feared they were going to die. The man had allegedly told them that he had enough explosives in his backpack to blow up the whole street. No explosives were found in the end. He also said that the situation could end badly for all involved.

The victims told the court about their traumatic experiences. They still have sleepless nights and struggle with the memories of the night. They explained why they are pleading for a location ban. “So that I can feel safer. You never know when he could walk in if he is allowed a leave,” said the partial owner of the Petticoat.

“You made your problem our problem,” another employee said. H. gave a short response to the statements made by the victims. He said it was “hard to hear” and wished the victims strength.

The victims have all gotten the same tattoo with the text “faith over fear.” They said that this is a sign of strength between the four.

H. suffers from complex problems, the psychiatrist and psychologist concluded. He has an autism spectrum disorder, PTSD, and exhibits borderline traits.

The court will announce its verdict on the case on December 24.