Gouda

A car went up in flames on Plaswijckweg in Gouda during the early hours of Friday morning. The Citroen was destroyed by the fire. This is the 19th car fire in the city since May 3rd.

The fire brigade responded to the scene at around 1:45 a.m., according to newspaper AD. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, but the car could not be saved.

In the past month, a total of 19 cars went up in flames in various areas across Gouda. The police suspect arson in every one of these fires.

A 50-year-old former teacher at a Rotterdam school was arrested on Monday on suspicion of abusing a young girl and possessing child pornography, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday.

Charges were pressed against the man late last month. Based on this, his home in Gouda was search. "After a short scan" child pornography was found on his data carriers, the Prosecutor said. The man taught the girl "in the past".

A 46-year-old woman from Gouda was sentenced to institutionalized psychiatric treatment for stalking National Police Chief Erik Akerboom and his wife. The court in The Hague considered it proven that the woman sent the couple over 2,500 threatening emails. They sometimes received 50 per day, NOS reports.

In one email she wrote: "Do not come near me in my neighborhood Erik, because I will really break you". Another read: "No, I will not give you an extra day. Can I kill you or just wait like your predecessor?"

There will be no trains running between Utrecht and Rotterdam Centraal, and between Utrecht and The Hague this week. This line is closed until August 6th due to maintenance on the track around Gouda, NOS reports.

Around 75 percent of the railway around Gouda will be renewed, which includes replacing points, rails, sleepers and rail gravel. This is only possible if train traffic is completely halted. NS and ProRail chose this week for this task, as it is summer holidays and many people are away on vacation. 

A 16-year-old boy was seriously injured in Gouda on Friday morning when he jumped off a roof while running from the police, Omroep West reports.

The boy was one of six teenagers sitting on a roof on Kleiweg and making noise. Four of them left a youth institution without permission. When the police wanted to take them back, one of them jumped off the roof. 

"He ran a bit over the roof and jumped - even before the cops could catch up to him - from the four floor building", a spokesperson for the police said to the broadcaster.

A container ship crashed into a railway bridge in Gouda on Sunday. The accident halted train traffic between Gouda and Boskoop on Sunday, and fewer trains will run on this route on Monday, NS reports. The rail company hopes that train traffic will return to normal by 6:30 p.m.

The bridge shifted on its foundation due to the accident, and the safety net is visibly torn. "The bridge is damaged to such an extent that specialized technicians have to take measurements", ProRail said on Sunday.

A few hundred train passengers spent over five hours stuck on a train between Woerden and Gouda on Wednesday. The train came to a stop when the overhead line suddenly broke, part of it landing on the front of the train. The train lost power, and the passengers were left stranded with nothing to eat or drink, NU.nl reports. 

Khalid T., a former PvdA city councilor in Gouda, is suspected of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in a hotel room. The Public Prosecutor is charging him with child sex abuse and removing a child from her parental authority, Omroep West reports.

According to the Public Prosecutor, 32-year-old man had oral sex with the girl and penetrated her.

Khalid T. was also the director of primary school An Noer in Alphen aan den Rijn. The girl was not a student at the school, according to the broadcaster.

The Public Prosecutor released two of four men who were arrested in Rotterdam on terrorism suspicions from custody. The other two men will be arraigned on Thursday, NU.nl reports.

Investigation into a 30-year-old man from Delft and a 23-year-old from Gouda did not reveal any indications of involvement in terrorism, the Prosecutor said. They were released from custody on Wednesday, but remain suspects.

Due to heavy snowfall expected across the Netherlands this afternoon, many schools decided to give their students the day off on Monday. These include the 23 secondary schools under the ZAAM foundation in Amsterdam and its surrounds, the 4e Gymnasium in Amsterdam, the Amadeus Lyceum in Vleuten, the Coornhert Gymnasiam in Gouda, and the Wellant College in Alphen aan den Rijn, NU.nl reports.

"An email has just been sent from the board that at 1:00 p.m. te doors will close in all schools of ZAAM", an employee of the Amsterdam-Zuid school community said to NU.nl.

The Sinterklaas parade in Gouda this year will include a gluten-free Zwarte Piet. This Piet will hand out gluten-free sweets to children with gluten intolerance. A green flag with the gluten-free logo will be strapped to his back so that he is easy to recognize, AD reports.