PVV provincial politician convicted for driving into climate activist in Haarlem

Ronald van Tiggelen, a member of the provincial council for the PVV, has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service for driving into a climate activist outside the Noord-Holland provincial government building in Haarlem. The District Court of Noord-Holland found him guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm and of leaving the scene of an accident.

The court imposed a sentence slightly above the 180 hours of community service recommended by the Public Prosecution Service (OM). Van Tiggelen was also given a one-month conditionally suspended prison sentence and a 12-month driving ban, half of which is suspended. He must pay the demonstrator over €2,000 in legal costs and compensation. The activist, Trees, said she was pleased with the verdict, including the fact that he will not be imprisoned.

Although the victim only sustained minor physical injuries, the court said she had suffered considerable harm. It also criticised the defendant for showing no signs of remorse during the hearing two weeks earlier.

On 3 March last year, the 73-year-old PVV politician hit a woman who was taking part in an Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest against pollution from Tata Steel. She was positioned behind a banner when he drove through it with his car.

The activist briefly landed on the bonnet before falling off. Van Tiggelen has consistently said he did not see her because his view was obstructed by the banner, and that he therefore did not realise a collision had occurred before driving on into the garage.

The court rejected his account as “not credible.” Video footage shown during the trial two weeks earlier indicated that his view was only blocked by the banner for about one second, while he would already have been able to see two activists standing in front of him beforehand. The judges concluded that he deliberately accepted the risk of causing serious injury, despite driving at low speed.

The presiding judge noted that the defendant never applied the brakes, even when his view was obstructed by the banner. The court therefore found proven both dangerous driving and the intentional use of force to disrupt a demonstration.

“Protesters must be able to exercise their right to demonstrate safely and without fear of violence,” the judgment stated. Because Van Tiggelen holds public office, the court said it regarded the breach of this principle as especially serious.