“I was proud of the car.” 33-year-old Thomas de G. from Zevenbergschen Hoek will appear in court on Tuesday. In March he killed an entire family from Raamsdonksveer, including two children aged 10 and 13. He drove more than 250 kilometers per hour and made videos to show what his car could do.
The courtroom was packed with emotional relatives and other interested parties. There was also hardly any room left in the public gallery. “This is an exceptional case,” the judge outlined.
On March 10 this year, De G. drove recklessly on the A59 near Sprang-Capelle. He caused an accident in which the entire family from Raamsdonksveer died. A 10-year-old girl, her 13-year-old brother and their father and mother (both 46) did not survive.
The suspect was playing games at home that day and went to visit a friend. “Seven or eight bottles,” he had consumed at home. “That cannot be justified.” He also drank beer with that friend again.
Videos in the courtroom
Thomas de G. drove back home on the A59. On the highway he accelerated: he drove more than 250 kilometers per hour. Remarkable: he filmed the speedometer with his phone. “I was proud of what the car could do.”
“Then you must go to the circuit,” says the chairman of the court. “Why would you be proud of something like that?” Those videos were shown in court. “It was only at the police station that I heard that I had done that,” says De G., who reportedly suffered from blackouts.
The family turned left to overtake a truck when the suspect approached it. The family’s car crashed into the guardrail and caught fire. Thomas de G. and bystanders tried to open the doors of the car, but it was already too late. “I couldn’t open the door anymore,” De G sobbed.
The impact made the doors too twisted to open. “The victims met a terrible end,” the judge said. The mother of the family was not killed instantly. The car caught fire but victims had no chance to get out.
During an earlier hearing, the public prosecutor announced that Thomas de G. braked one second before the accident. “Just before the accident he was driving 254 kilometers per hour. At the time of the collision he was still driving 205,” the officer said at the time.
Deep mourning
Raamsdonksveer was in deep mourning after the death of the family. Interested parties came en masse to the funeral. When the four hearses containing the coffins arrived, members of the scouts from Raamsdonksveer formed a guard of honor. The Carnival organization Raamsdonksveer also deeply mourned the loss of their councilor and youth councilor.
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Killed family A59: ‘Last week the eldest came to catch up at school’
2023-12-05 10:59:09
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/nginx/o/2023/10/16/15658165t1h553c.jpg "2022 Research Cycle: Latvian Students’ Mathematics and Natural Science Competence")
