Man jailed for 15 months over threats to Groningen butchers

A Groningen court has sentenced a 23-year-old man to 15 months in prison for sending death threats to butchers in the province and neighbouring Drenthe.

Prosecutors requested a four-year sentence, saying he had a terrorist motive. But the court ruled there was insufficient evidence for such a charge, saying instead he acted out of radical environmental and animal-rights beliefs.

Because four months of his sentence are suspended, the man, known as Bas V., will be released immediately, having already served his time in pre-trial detention. He is bound by a three-year probationary period.

The crime

Last September, Bas V. sent threatening emails to 12 butcher shops demanding they close. “You get one warning, nothing more. If the shop isn’t closed tomorrow, I will come with a machete and stab everyone to death,” read the email.

The court stated: “The texts on his phone say something about his mindset, but not that he wanted to disrupt society with them.”

Bas V., who admitted to sending the emails, was arrested after seven of the butchers filed a complaint. Police found a machete in his home and notes on his phone saying he also needed a pistol with a silencer to “kill people responsible for the humiliation of animals,” according to broadcaster NOS.

The national broadcaster also says that Bas V. was found by experts to have a gaming addiction, a cannabis addiction, ADHD and autism, and will be placed in a protected living facility to receive treatment.