Petrol thief sentenced to six years for fatal car crash

Tuesday 09 October 2012

The man who drove off from a petrol station without paying and collided with another car, killing the driver, was sentenced to six years in prison and a 10-year suspension of his driving licence on Tuesday.

Maikel R was chased by police who created a traffic jam to stop him. However, R did not stop and drove into another car, killing the driver.

The court said the police-created traffic jam should not have been used for such a minor transgression. However, they did not lessen the sentence because R was to blame for the accident. 'He was only thinking of saving his own skin,' the court said.

R admitted he fled the scene and tried to drive around the traffic jam, despite indications from the police he must stop. He had seen agents with guns in their hands and was afraid, he told the court.

No one explained why the police had drawn their guns, the Volkskrant reports.

R had already been fined for four earlier petrol thefts.

© DutchNews.nl