No jail time for man who killed 82-year-old in Rotterdam, court cites psychosis
A Rotterdam court has ruled that the man who fatally stabbed an 82-year-old passerby in early 2024 cannot be held criminally responsible due to a temporary psychosis at the time of the attack. The court’s verdict means no punishment will be imposed.
On January 18, 2024, an unprovoked stabbing took place near the Spaansebrug in Rotterdam. A 46-year-old Polish man repeatedly stabbed an 82-year-old man in broad daylight. Emergency responders resuscitated the victim on the scene before transporting him to a hospital in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries several days later. Following the attack, the suspect brandished his knife at a garbage collector before fleeing. He was later arrested.
During the court proceedings, the suspect claimed he had been exhausted and confused on the day of the attack. He had been living on the streets, suffering from sleep deprivation and malnutrition. He believed he was in Poland and feared he was being hunted. Speaking to strangers in Polish, he reportedly thought they were speaking the same language and saw faces that did not exist. That morning, he stole a knife from a supermarket, convinced he needed to defend himself. The suspect said he mistook the elderly man for one of his perceived attackers and acted on instinct.
The Pieter Baan Center evaluated the suspect’s mental health. A psychologist and psychiatrist testified that he had a history of alcohol abuse and had suffered a brain injury from a previous accident. However, they could not conclusively determine whether he was in a psychotic state when he stabbed the victim and threatened the garbage collector.
The court found strong indications that the suspect was in a psychotic state. Three days before the stabbing, he collapsed from an epileptic seizure, likely triggered by alcohol withdrawal. He was hospitalized overnight but released and spent several days in freezing conditions, sleeping on the streets without adequate food or water. According to experts, epilepsy and brain injuries increase vulnerability to psychosis.
His erratic behavior reportedly continued in the days following his hospital discharge. He was seen wandering on a highway and, on the morning of the attack, entered a stranger’s car uninvited. The court noted that after stabbing the victim, the suspect walked away calmly, as if unaffected by what had just happened—further evidence of his detachment from reality.
The court determined that the suspect’s psychosis had so severely distorted his perception of reality that it entirely drove his violent actions. He suffered from paranoid delusions and believed he was being attacked. As a result, the court ruled that he could not be held criminally accountable and would not face punishment.
Furthermore, the court found no grounds for forced psychiatric treatment. Experts at the Pieter Baan Center observed no ongoing symptoms requiring intervention. His psychotic state appeared to be a temporary reaction to extreme circumstances, including sudden alcohol withdrawal, epileptic seizure, brain injury, exhaustion, cold exposure, and malnutrition. Once placed in a stable environment, the psychosis subsided.
The court recognized the difficult impact of the verdict on the victim’s family and the garbage collector who was threatened. “We understand this ruling is painful for the victim’s relatives and those affected,” court spokesperson Morena van Baaren stated. “But given the circumstances, there is no other possible conclusion, as terrible as this case is.”
