Footballer Rai Vloet from Schijndel has made himself heard for the first time in years. The now 29-year-old Vloet caused a fatal traffic accident on the A4 near Hoofddorp in November 2021 in which 4-year-old Gio Roos lost his life. “Yes, I was convicted. Rightly so. That is why I also accept my punishment. But I am not a monster.”
Vloet says this in a interview with the AD. He says it relieves him to tell his story. Vloet says he understands that people think he is a monster and that they think that way. “But what they should not forget: I am also human. Maybe not to others, but I am. I am a human who did not want this either. But made an unforgivable mistake.”
The timing of the interview was not chosen by chance. The appeal was withdrawn earlier this week, by both Vloet and the Public Prosecution Service (OM). As a result, the prison sentence of 30 months previously imposed by the judge is irrevocable. Vloet must report to prison soon.
READ ALSO: 4-year-old Gio run over, Rai Vloet will not appeal against prison sentence
He says he didn’t want to give an interview before because he didn’t want to ‘get in good graces’. “During the criminal case I deliberately kept my mouth shut. I wanted to prevent people from thinking I was trying to save myself. That should never be the intention of an interview.”
Vloet describes the past three years as the toughest years of his life. “The accident, the consequences. That Gio passed away. That is at the top of my list and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life. Furthermore, I messed up my career, I dragged the people around me, including my parents and my sisters, into this process. That hurts a lot.”
The fact that he did not show remorse to Gio’s parents bothers him. “On the contrary. In fact, I sent an email to the relatives quite quickly after my operation. I would have preferred to go to them. Or call them. But I was advised against that, so I decided to send an email,” he told the newspaper. He still wants to get in touch with the parents. “Definitely. Of course, their suffering is much worse than mine. But I really hope that it will happen one day. Somehow I think it could be good for them too, but I can’t look inside their heads.”
Rai Vloet, former player of PSV, NAC Breda, Excelsior and Heracles Almelo, was in the car with a friend on November 14, 2021 when he drove into another car around midnight without braking. The 4-year-old Gio was killed.
For causing the fatal accident, the Public Prosecution Service demanded an unconditional prison sentence of 3.5 years and a four-year driving ban in March 2023. Vloet was found with ‘bloodshot eyes and smelling of alcohol’ after the accident, the public prosecutor said. Research showed that Vloet had more than twice the alcohol limit in his blood (515 ugl). 220 ugl is the maximum. He also spoke of driving at an ‘absurd speed’. Data from his own car showed that he was driving at 203 kilometers per hour at the time.
In April last year, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and was given a four-year driving ban. The prison sentence was reduced because the court took into account the consequences of the great media attention due to his professional career and because he showed remorse for his actions during the hearing. Now that the appeal has not been successful, Vloet must serve 30 months.
Vloet indicates that he should have handled some things differently after the accident. For example, he should never have kept his mouth shut when asked shortly after the accident who was behind the wheel. “I regret that. It is difficult for me to explain what goes through your mind at such a moment, how you act. In fact, you are not even controlling your own body in a good and clear way. You are so panicked. In such a state of shock that you no longer know what you are doing. You simply freeze.”
“To play football again, someone has to give me that second chance.”
Vloet says he would like to return as a professional footballer. “I am dependent on others for that. Someone has to give me that second chance. I don’t want to say goodbye to football this way.” When he gets out of prison, he thinks he can still compete at the level of the Eredivisie. “There were trainers in the Netherlands last summer who said they would like to have me. But they don’t dare, afraid of the reaction of the outside world. Of course, I understand that. That is a shame.”
Vloet, born in Schijndel, says he has peace in his head again. “There has been no peace at all in the past three years. The scar remains. It never heals. And I am really not pitiful. But I do hope that I will one day feel free in my head again. For me, that is already a kind of happiness.”
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