Dutchman gets 18 year jail sentence for acid attack

Victim Marina Tijssen, her daughter Britt and son Dimitri pictured at the hearing. Photo: BELGA / Hollandse Hoogte
Victim Marina Tijssen, her daughter Britt and son Dimitri pictured at the hearing. Photo: BELGA / Hollandse Hoogte

A 41-year-old Dutchman has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for attempted murder after throwing sulfuric acid in a Belgian supermarket cleaner’s face, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.

Jelle Frenken attacked a cleaner in Antwerp supermarket Delhaize last year, blinding her in her left eye, leaving her scarred for life and needing more than 40 operations. He had been trying to exhort the supermarket for months by threatening an acid attack, after losing his job.

On Friday, the Brussels criminal court sentenced him to a jail sentence, another 10 years of treatment due to his ‘psychopathic personality’ – the paper says – and to pay compensation of almost €500,000 to his victim, Marina Tijssen.

The court heard that he could only have intended to kill the 53-year-old. ‘This is evident from the choice of a very dangerous acid, and the large amount that the through on a vital part of the victim,’ said the judge. ‘The suspect also spoke to the victim to make sure he would hit her in the face.’

Frenken, a lawyer from Amsterdam, fled after the attack but was arrested in a routine check by French police on March 6th 2015, and extradited to Belgium, where he confessed. His lawyer said he ‘wanted revenge on society,’ reports RTL broadcaster.

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