Appeal to self-defense (self-defense) successful: client free after charge of attempted manslaughter
The client of Mr. Jordi L'Homme, who was accused of attempted manslaughter in a shooting in Bergen op Zoom, is entitled to a plea of self-defense. For this reason, he is discharged from all prosecution and goes free. Two other suspects were sentenced to long prison terms.
Wild west shootings in Bergen op Zoom: twice 12 years in prison
Bergen op Zoom was rocked by two violent shootings on October 12, 2021, which caused great unrest. The court sentenced four men on Tuesday. Ibrahim B. from Bergen op Zoom who started the shooting got twelve years in prison, much more than the five years demanded. His brother Mohammed also received twelve years.
In the first shooting, bullets were flying around. Ibrahim B. was driving across a traffic circle in his car and happened to run into Cihan K.. He lured him along, according to the court. In a parking lot on Jan Dercksstraat near a playground, things went wrong. Ibrahim immediately grabbed a firearm from his car and fired twelve times at Cihan. The latter fired back seven times.
Ibrahim B. was hit in his thigh. Both men fled the scene. Ibrahim went to the hospital.
Recourse
Ibrahim's brother Mohammed (25) heard of the gun violence and jumped in his car. Together with childhood friend. He drove to his family's Moroccan teahouse on Wouwsestraatweg.
From the Turkish teahouse further down the same road, a group of men approached at that moment and came to recount the shooting. Yilmaz Yeral (55) was also walking with them.
Mohammed B. was besieged and surrounded and shot at Yilmaz. The latter was hit in the head by a bullet and died the same evening.
'Downright traumatic'
After the shootings, tensions arose. Threats were made and several people went into hiding. Last month during the trial, there was a security camera at the Moroccan teahouse on Wouwsestraatweg.
According to the court, the shootings were downright traumatic for local residents. "It happened in broad daylight, in a residential neighborhood, next to a playground at a time when people were coming home from work," he said.
Attempted murder
The court weighed the first shooting much more heavily than the prosecutor. Ibrahim lured Cihan along, which the judge said constituted attempted murder. Therefore, Ibrahim received twelve years in prison instead of the demanded five.
Cihan who was shot at and shot back received five months for prohibited possession of firearms. His car was riddled by 11 bullets, but he himself was not injured. According to the court, it was a "fortunate coincidence" that Cihan escaped death. The man has suffered PTSD, a post-traumatic stress disorder. He keeps reliving parts of the day and suffers from insomnia. He is also afraid that someone will finish what Ibrahim started. Cihan K. was the only defendant in court on Tuesday.
The judge did agree with the prosecutor on the second shooting: that was manslaughter. Mohammed B. gets 12 years, as demanded, for shooting Yilmaz Yeral to death. And for firearm possession. It was not self-defense, according to the court, because he himself sought confrontation.
A comrade of Mohammed's who was there that night, Rachid L., received six months in prison for threatening. He brought Mohammed to the teahouse and carried a fake weapon.
