Amsterdam stabbing suspect denied sentence reduction, now missing after court ruling
A court ruled that an 18-year-old man without legal residency status, who stabbed a victim outside a café and committed a wallet theft in 2024, will not receive a reduced sentence despite claims of excessive police force during his arrest. The suspect has since gone missing, AT5 reported.
The stabbing occurred Nov. 17, 2024, at 4:49 a.m. in Amsterdam’s Centrum district. Authorities said the suspect first struck the victim on the head with an object and then stabbed him in the chest. The victim was hospitalized for two days, suffering injuries including a collapsed lung. The court said the attack could have had far more serious consequences.
The day before, the suspect stole a wallet using a so-called “football trick,” a method in which pickpockets stand very close to a victim to take belongings. A police officer chased him as he ran toward Nieuwmarkt. During the pursuit, the suspect fell and hit his head on the ground as the officer forced him down. When he continued to resist, the officer punched him once in the lower back.
The suspect’s lawyer argued that the officer used disproportionate force and that the arrest was unlawful, seeking a reduced sentence. The court rejected that argument, finding no grounds for leniency.
The suspect did not attend the hearing. The Dutch Child Protection Board described him as a young man without residency status who has experienced significant trauma and has an addiction. He has been convicted multiple times in other cases.
In its ruling, the court wrote: “The suspect has already spent a long period in pretrial detention in connection with another offense.” It added: “Moreover, in another criminal case, the suspect was given a suspended sentence with a large number of special conditions. A very strict framework already applies to the suspect, and as soon as he reappears, assistance can immediately be resumed within that framework.”
The court imposed one month of juvenile detention for the theft and the stabbing, calling the sentence appropriate and necessary. Time already spent in pretrial detention will be deducted from that term.
